Suit Hits Aid for Museum on Holocaust
A lawsuit to halt the state from providing $5 million for a proposed Museum of Tolerance at the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies was filed today by attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union.
The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, contends that construction of the museum on the campus of Yeshiva University of Los Angeles would benefit a private religious educational institution in violation of the California Constitution’s mandate for separation of church and state.
Today’s ACLU action rivets attention on disquieting chords that developed among some elements of the organized Jewish community over the idea of a state subsidy after the measure was introduced in the Legislature last January.
Review of Genocides
The bill was carried by Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) and will provide $5 million in matching funds for construction of the museum to educate the public about genocides in history.
The American Jewish Committee and four California chapters of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith are among groups that have voiced opposition to the measure.
ACLU volunteer attorneys Lisa Rosenbaum and Fred Blum filed the suit as a taxpayer action in the names of David and Rosetta Cohen, whom they identified as Los Angeles taxpayers.
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