U.S. Supreme Court justices recently debated questions about the constitutionality of Arizona’s school tuition tax credit program and whether or not Arizona taxpayers even have legal standing to challenge the program. In a lively exchange on Nov. 3, discussion focused on whether the money that Arizonans contribute to scholarship tuition organizations could be considered government money because of the $500 tax credit participants receive. Most of the scholarships granted through the organizations go to students in religious schools. Opponents contend that is tantamount to government funding of religious schools. Acting U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal argued that based on previous court rulings Arizona taxpayers are barred from suing the government over how it spends money. “The key point is this: Not a cent of [the plaintiff’s] money goes to fund religion,” said Katyal. Two related cases challenging the program are being reviewed by the court, and a decision is likely before its summer adjournment.
Supreme Court Hears Tuition Challenge
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
In Los Angeles, people stay for the movie credits. After the awful images of these fires are gone, they will stay to rebuild their city, too.
Catholic Charities USA is now accepting donations to its Los Angeles Wildfire Relief initiative, and the L.A. archdiocese has created a dedicated relief fund.
Warning of “the increasingly concrete threat of a world war,” Pope Francis called for “the diplomacy of hope” in his address to the ambassadors of the 184 countries that have diplomatic relations with the Holy See.
Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy as Archbishop of Washington, D.C., and Sister Simona Brambilla, an Italian Consolata missionary, as prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.