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Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Supreme Court Allows Religious Separatists To Claim School Tax Credit | Resurgence | Big Think

Supreme Court Allows Religious Separatists To Claim School Tax Credit | Resurgence | Big Think

Supreme Court Allows Religious Separatists To Claim School Tax Credit

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Of all the news stories I’ve read over the last few days, the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn has stuck in my mind the most. All I could see in my mind’s eye were the numerous “segregation academies” that struggled financially in South Carolina during the 70’s and 80’s as court ordered desegregation slowly began to be accepted.

Many of the private schools across our state back then, especially the ones in the more rural areas of the state, were small affairs that had been hastily constructed and poorly maintained. With only the backing of the families of their students, most of them were doomed from the start to fail. The loss of their IRS exemptions due to their discriminatory practices sealed the fate of many of these schools.

The majority reaches a contrary decision by distinguishing between two methods