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Thursday, November 4, 2010

Justices debate tax credit for religious schools - The Boston Globe

Justices debate tax credit for religious schools - The Boston Globe

Justices debate tax credit for religious schools

Arizona group says it violates Constitution

By Robert Barnes
Washington Post / November 4, 2010

WASHINGTON — Deciphering the constitutional principle that government “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion’’ is almost always a guarantee of a divided Supreme Court.

And so it was again yesterday as the justices reviewed an Arizona program that lets taxpayers send part of their state taxes to organizations that provide millions of dollars in scholarships to private religious schools.

The court’s liberal members sharply questioned whether the program is just a way for the state to provide tax money to religious schools and noted that it almost certainly would be unconstitutional if the contributions came directly from the state.