Aguilar et al. v. Felton et al. (473 U.S. 402)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided July 1, 1985 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 473 U.S. 402 · 105 S. Ct. 3232
- Decided
- July 1, 1985
- Term
- October Term 1984
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Brennan
- Issue area
- First Amendment
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
- Constitutional ruling
- Federal law held unconstitutional
Opinion excerpt
Justice Brennan delivered the opinion of the Court. The City of New York uses federal funds to pay the salaries of public employees who teach in parochial schools. In this companion case to School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball, ante, p. 373, we determine whether this practice violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. hH <C The program at issue in this case, originally enacted as Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 authorizes the Secretary of Education to distribute financial assistance to local educational institutions to meet the needs of educationally deprived children from low-income families. The funds are to be appropriated in accordance with programs proposed by local educational agencies and approved by state educational agencies. 20 U. S. C. § 3805(a). “To the extent consistent with the number of educationally deprived children in the school district of the local educational agency who are enrolled in private elementary and secondary schools, such agency shall make provisions for including special educational services and arrangements ... in which such children can participate.” § 3806(a). The proposed programs must also meet the following statutory requirements: the children involved in the program must be educationally deprived, § 3804(a), the children must reside in areas comprising a high concentration of low-income…
Excerpt of a 57,414-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.