Everson v' Board of Education

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Everson v. Board of Education

• Argued November 20,1946
• Decided February 10,1947
• By r. hun

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Facts of the Case

• A New Jersey law allowed reimbursements of money
  to parents who sent their children to school on
  buses operated by the public transportation
  system. Children who attended Catholic schools
  also qualified for this transportation subsidy.

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• Paying for the busing of parochial school
  students does not breach the Establishment
  Clause. Even though the assistance might make
  parents more likely to send their children to
  such schools, the authorization does not unduly
  assist the schools. The policy is general because
  it applies to public and private school students
  and does not single out those attending religious
  schools. The funding of busing is similar to the
  public payment of policemen and firemen who
  protect parochial school students.

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• The plan supports religious training and
  belief through the use of government funds.  The
  funds for the plan are taken from taxes levied on
  citizens of all faiths and should not be used to
  further the religious education of children of
  other faiths, thereby violating the Establishment
  Clause.  If it is permissible to pay for the
  transportation to private religious school on the
  grounds it promotes education, then why not pay
  for the entire costs of the schooling on these
  same grounds?

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Significance

• Using the Fourteenth Amendment, the Court applied
  the Establishment Clause to the states. However,
  it was not violated so long as money was not
  given directly to religious schools or gave them
  specific benefits.

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Thatsall folks!!!