AJ 025 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Establishment Clause, Taxing And Spending Clause, Flast V. Cohen

• School: College of The Sequoias
• Department: Administration of Justice (AJ)
• Course: AJ 025
• Professor: shirk

Document Summary

Under, elementary and secondary education act (1965), states could apply to government for grants to assist in education of children from low-income families; funds could go to textbooks, library materials, etc. 7 taxpayers sued on basis that some of the funds went for instruction in religious schools; they argued this violated 1st amendment"s establishment clause. District court dismissed complaint on basis of plaintiffs failing to meet criteria set in frothingham. Ruling: 8 (black, brenna, douglas, fortas, marshall, stewart, warren, white) to 1 (harlan) Court ruled that petitioners had satisfied both nexuses and so had standing to sue as taxpayers. First, their constitutional challenge concerned expenditures contained within a law passed pursuant to article i, section 8 (taxing and spending clause) power to spend for the general welfare. Second, the law at issue allocated funds to religious schools and therefore violated the establishment clause. Flast did not overrule forthingham, but instead revised frothingham"s precedent.