Justices Allow Computers Lent to Parochial Schools

The Supreme Court upheld a federal law Wednesday that provides computers for use in parochial schools as well as public classrooms, saying that the loaned equipment will not be used to teach religion or to subsidize a church.

But Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the deciding vote on this church-state issue, did not tip her hand on whether she would also uphold publicly financed vouchers used to send children to religious schools.

U.S. Education Secretary Richard W. Riley praised the decision and said that all children should “have access to computers and advanced technologies,” whether their schools are in rich areas or poor ones, public schools or private. Wednesday’s ruling should speed the government’s plan to connect all classrooms to the Internet.

Since 1965, the federal government has provided limited aid for education. The funds flow to public school districts and they must share some of the money with private and parochial schools.

The 6-3 ruling said that this public-private sharing of computers and textbooks does not violate the 1st Amendment’s ban on an “establishment of religion” just because parochial schools benefit from the program.

But the court has struggled for more than 20 years to spell out when public aid to parochial schools crosses the line to become an unconstitutional subsidy for religion. Twice in the late 1970s, the court struck down state laws that loaned textbooks and other items to parochial schools.

Wednesday’s ruling overturns those decisions, saying that such limited aid does not violate the 1st Amendment.

The six justices in the majority did not agree among themselves. Four members of the court, led by Justice Clarence Thomas, said that they were willing to allow a free flow of taxpayer funds to parochial schools. If the money is for education, it should not matter whether the school is secular or religious, he said. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony M. Kennedy joined his opinion.

Had Thomas mustered a majority for his view, it would have made for a major change in constitutional law. But Justice O’Connor refused to agree and called Thomas’ opinion “troubling.”

She said that she could approve the loaned computers because none of the money “reaches the coffers of religious schools” and the equipment is not likely to promote the teaching of religion.

For those reasons, the federal aid program “does not have the impermissible effect of advancing religion,” she said. Justice Stephen G. Breyer agreed with her view.

The three dissenters insisted on strict separation of church and state and said that they do not believe the Constitution allows even this form of subsidy for parochial schools. They are Justices David H. Souter, John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Nonetheless, proponents of more aid for parochial schools were encouraged by the ruling.

“The bottom line is that the aid is for education, not religion,” said Clint Bolick of the Institute for Justice, a libertarian group that supports vouchers.

Advocates of church-state separation said they were disappointed by the outcome but said that it was far from a total defeat.

“We can now expect religious schools to clamor for an ever-increasing number of services paid for with tax dollars,” said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “The only silver lining is that this decision gives no aid or comfort to voucher supporters.”

The case decided Wednesday began in the mid-1980s in a Louisiana parish. Several parents and taxpayers had complained that federal funds were subsidizing parochial schools. After years of litigation, the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans agreed. It relied on the disputed high court rulings from the late 1970s.

But the justices concluded that those rulings are too rigid and outdated and overruled them in the case (Mitchell vs. Helms, 98-1648).