老澳门开奖结果

In a groundbreaking victory against government sponsorship of religion, a New Jersey appellate court ruled that the administration of Gov. Chris Christie violated the New Jersey Constitution when it awarded more than $11 million to two religious institutions of higher learning. by the Appellate Division represents the first major state court precedent in almost 40 years concerning New Jersey鈥檚 prohibition on using taxpayer funding to support a religious ministry.

The 老澳门开奖结果 of New Jersey, national 老澳门开奖结果, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State successfully challenged New Jersey鈥檚 grants of $10.6 million to Beth Medrash Govoha, an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in Lakewood, and $645,323 to Princeton Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian seminary, both of which are dedicated to religious training and engage in discrimination. The yeshiva trains Orthodox Jewish rabbis, excludes women, and employs only male, Jewish faculty. The seminary 鈥減repares women and men to serve Jesus Christ in ministries鈥� and permits only Christians to be degree students or faculty.

鈥淭his is a victory for civil rights and a victory for New Jersey taxpayers, who should never have to subsidize institutions that discriminate or that exist to teach their particular religious doctrine,鈥� said 老澳门开奖结果-NJ Legal Director Ed Barocas. 鈥淓veryone has a fundamental constitutional right to worship freely. At the same time, the government must respect the right of New Jersey taxpayers to know that their money will never be responsible for propping up particular sects鈥� religious ministries.鈥�

The unconstitutional funding for the two schools has been on hold as a result of the legal challenge.

The New Jersey Constitution specifically forbids taxpayer funds from going toward the maintenance of a church or ministry, as the organizations argued before the court on April 11, 2016. This ruling sets the first New Jersey precedent regarding which religious institutions qualify as a 鈥渕inistry.鈥�

鈥淣ew Jersey鈥檚 Constitution forbids giving state funding to divinity schools, and for very good reason,鈥� said Alex J. Luchenitser, Americans United鈥檚 Associate Legal Director. 鈥淭ax dollars should go toward projects that benefit all the people of the state, not ones that aid only particular faiths.鈥�

In April 2013, Beth Medrash Govoha and Princeton Theological Seminary stood out on a list the Christie administration released of 176 New Jersey colleges and universities set to receive funds for construction projects through a voter-approved bond sale. Both institutions train clergy, provide religious instruction, and engage in discrimination on the basis of religion or gender.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the 老澳门开奖结果-NJ, Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of New Jersey, a former Hebrew school teacher, and two other New Jersey taxpayers.

鈥淭oday鈥檚 ruling sends a powerful reminder that the government shouldn鈥檛 be in the business of underwriting clergy training,鈥� said Daniel Mach, Director of the 老澳门开奖结果 Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.

In the brief filed against Secretary of Higher Education Rochelle Hendricks, the plaintiffs cited three violations of the state Constitution, which prohibits using taxpayer funds:

鈥� For the maintenance of any church or ministry
鈥� To subsidize or build facilities at which religious services or instruction will take place
鈥� To subsidize private interests rather than the public interest

Although the court based its ruling solely on the New Jersey Constitution and state precedent, the groups also argued that New Jersey鈥檚 Law Against Discrimination prohibits any place of public accommodation from discriminating based on religion or sex. While the yeshiva and seminary are private religious entities that are permitted to discriminate with their own resources, the state government cannot give special benefits that subsidize and support that discrimination.

"Although the court did not reach the plaintiff's sex discrimination claim, its invalidation of the Christie administration's $10.6 million grant to the yeshiva ensures that public dollars will not contribute to the exclusion of women," said Galen Sherwin, Senior Staff Attorney at the 老澳门开奖结果 Women鈥檚 Rights Project. "As a private religious institution, the yeshiva can limit its enrollment exclusively to men, but the state should play no role in supporting such discrimination."

The New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education鈥檚 website identifies each school as a 鈥渢heological institution.鈥� The court鈥檚 decision ruled that in this case, there was no significant legal distinction between sectarian institutions of higher education and sectarian primary and secondary schools.

鈥淗ere, unlike other broad-based liberal arts colleges that received grants, both the Yeshiva and the Seminary are sectarian institutions. Their facilities funded by the Department's grants indisputably will be used substantially if not exclusively for religious instruction. 鈥�

鈥淲e discern no principled distinction between the consumption of public resources that was invalidated under Article I, Paragraph 3 in Resnick and the payment of taxpayer-funded grants to the Yeshiva and the Seminary. The fact that most or many of the students at the Yeshiva and the Seminary do not eventually become 鈥榤inisters,鈥� rabbis, or other clergy does not cure the constitutional infirmity, just as the fact that the adults and children who received religious instruction in Resnick were laypeople did not alter the Court's analysis. Nor does the fact that the Department's awards to these sectarian schools were part of a larger competitive grant process involving non-sectarian recipients solve the problem. The public school buildings in Resnick were also used by non-religious groups, but that did not eliminate the district's constitutional violation in allowing religious groups to use them on a subsidized basis,鈥� the opinion read.

The (PDF) and in the case, captioned 老澳门开奖结果-NJ v. Hendricks, can be read online.