Written by Don Byrd
The New Hampshire Supreme Court today struck down the portion of a tax credit program that effectively uses public funds for religious education. Noting that the state’s constitution provides stronger protections than the Federal Establishment Clause, the Court ruled the program a violation of a provision prohibiting aid to religious education.
From the opinion (pdf):
The program has been shown to have “money raised by taxation” inevitably go toward education expenses at nonpublic “religious” schools without restriction regarding how the money may be used. The benefit to “religious” schools will be inevitably and obviously more than incidental…
… Accordingly the program may proceed, except that scholarship monies may not go to “schools or institutions of any religious sect or denomination… and the associated tax credits are likewise disallowed…
New Hampshire students, and their parents, certainly have the right to choose a religious education. However, the government is under no obligation to fund “religious” education. Indeed, the government is expressly forbidden from doing so.
The program is similar to one in Arizona, challenged in Arizona Christian Scholarship Tuition Organization v. Winn. There, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue under the federal constitution. The New Hampshire court, however, came to a different conclusion in interpreting the state’s law governing the interests of taxpayers.
