# Jurisdictional Statement — Committee for Public Ed. & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist

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## Record

- **Collection:** Supreme Court brief
- **Document type:** Jurisdictional Statement
- **Published:** January 1, 1973
- **Citation:** 413 U.S. 756

## Text

_ -
JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENT

Appellants submit this Statement to show that this
urt has jurisdiction of their appeal from so much of
e judgment of the United States District Court for the
uthern District of New York res Section 2 of
apter 414 of the 1972 Laws of ork to be violative
the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and
fmanently enjoins its enforcement. It is submitted that
stantial issues of public importance are presented by

8 appeal and that this Court should exercise its juris-
tion.

Opinions Below

The opinions of the District Court, upon which the judg-
ment appealed from was entered, are, as yet, unreported.
Copies of the opinions are set forth in the Appendix, com-
mencing at pages la and 40a. In addition, an earlier per
curiam opinion not directly related to that part of the judg-
ment appealed from by these appellants is set forth at
page 46a.

Jurisdiction

This suit was brought pursuant to 28 U.S.C. $§ 1343(3)
and 2281, 2284 to enjoin the enforcement of a statute of the
State of New York as being in violation of the First Amend-
ment. The judgment of the District Court was entered on
October 20, 1972. A copy of the Order and Judgment is set
forth in the Appendix, pages 48a-5la. Appellants filed their
Notice of Appeal on October 27, 1972 in the District Court.
A copy is set forth in the Appendix at page 52a.

The jurisdiction of this Court to review the judgment
of the District Court by direct appeal is conferred by Title
28, United States Code, Sections 1253 and 2101(b). The
most recent cases sustaining the jurisdiction of this Court
to review the judgment in this case on direct appeal are
Lemon v. Kurtzman, Earley v. DiCenso and Robinson v.
DiCenso, 403 U.S. 602 (1971), and Tilton v. Richardson,
403 U.S. 672 (1971).

3

Statute Involved

The statute involved is Chapter 414 of the 1972 Laws
of New York, entitled “An Act to amend the education law,
in relation to health, welfare and safety grants for pupils
in nonpublic schools ; to establish an elementary and second-
ary education opportunity program of tuition reimburse-
ment for parents of low income; to amend the tax law, in
relation to a modification of federal adjusted gross income
for parents of nonpublic school children; and to amend
the education law, in relation to impacted aid for school
districts and the purchase of existing structures to be used

- for school buildings.” N.Y. Educ. Law $$ 408(1), 408(2),
408(3), 408(6), 549-53, 559-63, 3602(6), 3602(15) (McKin-
ney Cum. Supp. 1972); N.Y. Tax Law $$ 612(¢) (14), 612(5)
(McKinney Cum. Supp. 1972). The full text of the statute
{hereinafter referred to as “Chapter 414”] is set forth
in the Appendix, commencing at page 55a.

Section 2 of Chapter 414, which is the only section to
which this appeal and Jurisdictional Statement are ap-
plicable, requires the Commissioner of Education of New
York State to make tuition reimbursement payments to
parents of pupils enrolled full-time in nonpublic schools
whose New York taxable income is below $5,000 and who
have paid $20 or more in tuition to such schools in a given
calendar year. These payments are to be the lesser of
either (a) 50% of the tuition paid or (b) $5 per school
month for pupils in grades 1-8 or $10 per school month in
grades 9-12.

+
Question Presented

Is the Establishment Clause violated by Section 2, which
grants partial reimbursement by the State for tuition paid
by low-income parents in exercising their constitutional
right to send their children to religiously-affiliated nonpublic
schools which are required by New York law to provide a
secular education “at least substantially equivalent” to that
received in the public schools?

Statement of the Case

Immediately after Chapter 414 was signed into law in
May, 1972, appellees instituted this action in the United
States District Court for the Southern District of New
York against Ewald B. Nyquist, Arthur Levitt and Norman
Gallman in their respective capacities as Commissioner of
Education, Comptroller and Commissioner of Taxation and
Finance of the State of New York, praying that enforce-
ment of Sections 1 through 5 of Chapter 414 be permanently
enjoined on the ground, inter alia, that these sections violate
the Establishment Clause.

A three-judge District Court was convened, consisting
of Judge Paul R. Hays of the Court of Appeals for the
Second Circuit and Judges John M. Cannella and Murray I.
Gurfein of the District Court. Appellants Cherry, Fer-
guson and Ruiz were permitted to intervene as parties
defendant on the ground that they are parents of nonpublic
school children who qualify for reimbursement pursuant to
Section 2 of Chapter 414.* Senator Earl W. Brydges was

* Appellants’ motion to intervene was joined in by four parents
of nonpublic school children who qualify for modification of their
ny York adjusted gross incomes pursuant to Section 5 of Chapter

5

also permittd to intervene as a party defendant in his
capacity as Najority Leader and President Pro Tem of the
New York Sate Senate.

No discove’y or trial was had. The case was briefed and
argued to th? Court on July 6, 1972. On October 2, 1972,
Judge Gurfe® filed an opinion, concurred in by Judges Can-
nella and Ha/S, that Section 2 is violative of the Establish-

ment Clause.

Appellants®ppeal from so much of the judgment as de-
elares that S’ction 2 of Chapter 414 violates the Establish-

ment Clause 2nd permanently enjoins its enforcement.

The Questions Are Substantial

For almo¢ two centuries, the public and nonpublic
schools in N’W York have comprised a single system of
education unler the jurisdiction of the Board of Regents
and the ConMissioner of Education and have been gov-
erned as to ;ecular matters by the compulsory education
statute, N.Y. Educ. Law § 3204. This statute specifies that
if children ar educated in nonpublic schools the instruction

* The court a%° Unanimously held Section 1 of Chapter 414 (deal-
ing with fund for repair and maintenance) unconstitutional.
Judges Gurfei! and Cannella held that Sections 3, 4 and 5 of
Chapter 414 dealing with tax adjustments for middle-income

ts of norPublic school children) are constitutional. Judge
Hays filed a ajsenting opinion on this point.

* Defendants Nyquist, Levitt and Gallman and Senator Earl W.
Brydges have ¢Parately appealed from this part of the judgment,
88 well as fron that part of the judgment declaring Section 1 of
Chapter 414 t _be in violation of the Establishment Clause and
Permanently e/Olning its enforcement. Docket Nos. 72-791 and

753.

Appellees he” @Ppealed from the District Court’s judgment
upholding the onstitutionality of Sections 8, 4 and 5. ‘Docker Ne

ae

6

given must be “at least substantially equivalent” to that
given in public schools, and statutes and regulations im-
pose upon nonpublic schools detailed requirements as to
attendance, curricula, accreditation, examinations and di-
plomas. As this Court observed in Board of Education v.
Allen, 392 U.S. 236 (1968) :

Underlying these cases, and underlying also the legis-
lative judgments that have preceded the court decisions,
has been a recognition that private education has
played and is playing a significant and valuable role in
raising national levels of knowledge, competence, and
experience. .. . This judgment is further evidence
that parochial schools are performing, in addition to .
their sectarian function, the task of secular education.
392 U.S. at 24748.

Approximately 20% (800,000) of all school children in
New York State attend nonpublic schools.* Of these 800,000
children, a substantial number come from families at or
below the poverty level. While exact figures are not avail-
able, it has been reliably estimated that there are pres-
ently about 100,000 families with (some 125,000) children
enrolled in Catholic schools in New York State and incomes
of less than $5,000 per year and which thus qualify for
limited tuition reimbursement under Section 2.

A substantial number of these parents come from ghetto
areas and minority groups. In New York City, for example,
out of 65,937 pupils enrolled last year in Catholic elemen-
tary schools in the Bronx, New York and Richmond coun-
ties, 30,992 were non-white. “Today, more than sixty per-

Bg gm J

*A majority, but by no means all, of these nonpublic schools
are affiliated with the Catholic Church. As of the fall of 1968, there
were 327 nonpublic schools affiliated with religious bodies other than
the Catholic Church and 296 with no religious affiliation. See State
Educ. Dep’t, Financial Support—Nonpublic Schools—New York
State 3 (1969).

7

cent of [Catholic nonpublic school] elementary school stu-
dents in Manhattan are Black or Spanish-speaking; thirty
percent in the Bronx.” Hearings on H.R. 16141 and Other
Pending Proposals Before Committee on Ways and Means,
92nd Cong., 2d Sess., pt. 3, at 583 (Sept. 7, 1972).

Recognizing the vital need to maintain, especially for low-
income parents such as these, the freedom of educational
choice recognized by this Court in Pierce v. Society of Sis-
ters, 268 U.S. 510 (1925), and recently reiterated in Wis-
consin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972), the New York Legis-
lature enacted Section 2 on the basis of specific findings
that:

1. The vitality of our pluralistic society is, in part,
dependent upon the capacity of individual parents to
select a school, other than public, for the education of
their children. A healthy competitive and diverse alter-
native to public education is not only desirable but
indeed vital to a state and nation that have continually
reaffirmed the value of individual differences.

2. The Supreme Court of the United States has
recognized and reaffirmed this right of selection. This
right, however, is diminished or even denied to chil-
dren of lower-income families, whose parents, of all
groups, have the least options in determining where
their children are to be educated. Appendix, p. 61a.

The purpose of Section 2 is thus to provide limited as-
sistance to parents who, because of their economic circum-
stances,® might otherwise not be able to exercise a mean-

5 All of the intervenor parents who join in this appeal have in-
tomes of less than $5000 per year and are thus eligible for tuition
Teimbursement under Section 2. Appellant Cherry, who is divorced,

8

ingful alternative to sending their children to public schools,
when, either for moral or religious reasons, or for disci-
pline or specific secular educational respects, those parents
prefer nonpublic schools.

Section 2 is not, it should be emphasized, a broad pro-
gram under which the state undertakes responsibility for
tuition of all children attending religiously-affiliated. non-
public schools. It is carefuly limited to meeting a pressing
modern problem of low-income parents (and their children)
who would otherwise be denied the freedom of educational
choice possessed by more affluent members of our society.
It is analogous to numerous other enactments providing
food stamps, medical assistance and other services oriented
to the needs of families at or below the poverty level. The
class of persons qualifying for reimbursement under Sec-
tion 2 is limited to persons earning less than $5,000 per
year. The amount of reimbursement is also limited to
the lesser of either (a) one-half of the tuition paid or (b) $5
per school month for elementary school pupils and $10 per
school month for high school pupils. Thus, on the basis of
a ten-month school year, the maximum amount of reim-
bursement is $50 per year for a child in elementary school
and $100 per year for a child in high school.

has two sons who attend a nonpublic high school in Brooklyn. Their
combined tuition for the school year 1971-72 was approximatey
$500.00. Under Section 2, she would be entitled to a total reimburse-
ment of $200 for the year. Appellant Ferguson has a daughter who
also attends a nonpublic high school in Brooklyn. Appellant Fergu-
son, a widow on pension, paid $700.00 in tuition for the past school
year. Under Section 2, she would be entitled to be reimbursed in
the amount of $100. Appellant Ruiz has two daughters who attend
nonpublic high schools in Manhattan. She paid $40.00 tuition per
month for the school year 1971-72. She is now paying $100.00 per
month. Under Section 2, she would be entitled to a total reimburse-
ment of $20 per month.

9

No case previously decided by this Court has passed on
such a limited system of reimbursement, and we respect-
fully urge that, in view of the serious condition of public
and nonpublic education in the poorer sections of our cities
and the obvious advantage of preserving for low-income
parents a meaningful educational choice, the decision of
the District Court invalidating Section 2 warrants full re-
view by this Court. As this Court has recently stated in
Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971):

. .. Candor compels acknowledgment, moreover, that
we can only dimly perceive the lines of demarcation
in this extraordinarily sensitive area of constitutional
law....

Every analysis in this area must begin with consider-
ation of the cumulative criteria developed by the Court

over many years. Three such tests may be gleaned
from our cases. First, the statute must have a secular
legislative purpose; second, its principal or primary
effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits
religion .... ; finally, the statute must not foster “an
excessive government entanglement with religion”...
403 U.S. at 612-13.°

We suggest that this case provides an opportunity for a
meaningful analysis of the problem of limited tuition reim-
bursement in light of the criteria set forth above and that,
based on such an analysis, the judgment of the District
Court as to Section 2 was erroneous.

Secular Legislative Purpose

The District Court did not find that Section 2 lacked a
secular legislative purpose, and, indeed, there can be no
basis for any finding of a legislative intent to aid religion.

* See also Tilton v. Richardson, 403 U.S. 672, 678 (1971).

10

Rather, the District Court accepted the findings of the New
York Legislature, stating that:

... we wish to make it clear that we accept these find-
ings ... They sum up legislative purposes which are
cast as secular in intent. Appendix, p. 7a.

We submit that Section 2 clearly meets this Court’s “secu-
lar legislative purpose” test.

Principal or Primary Effect
Under this Court’s prior decisions, a state statute is not
invalid under the Establishment Clause because one effect

may be the advancement of religion. As was stated in Tilton
v. Richardson, 403 U.S. 672 (1971), the crucial question

is not whether some benefit accrues to a religious in-
stitution as a consequence of the legislative program,

but whether tts principal or primary effect advances
religion. 403 U.S. at 679 (emphasis added).

The simplistic argument that every form of financial
’ aid to church-sponsored activity violates the Religion
Clauses was rejected long ago in Bradfield v. Roberts,
175 U.S. 291 (1899). There a federal construction
grant to a hospital operated by a religious order was
upheld.- Here the Act is challenged on the ground that
its primary effect is to aid the religious purposes of
churech-related colleges and universities. Construction
grants surely aid those institutions in the sense that
the construction of buildings will assist them to per-
form their various functions. But bus transportation,
textbooks, and tax exemptions all gave aid in the sense
that religious bodies would otherwisg have been forced
to find other sources from, which fo finance these ser-
vices. Yet all of these forms of governmental as-
sistance have been upheld. 403 U.S. at 679.

11

See also Board of Education v. Allen, 392 U.S. 236, 243
(1968) ; Walz v. Tax Commission of the City of New York,
397 U.S. 664, 672 (1970). Indeed, even in Lemon v. Kurtz-
man, this Court did not disagree with the finding of the
District Court that the primary effect of the Pennsylvania
statute permitting payment of salary supplements to paro-
chial school teachers was not the advancement of religion.
See 310 F. Supp. at 46.

We suggest that the principal or primary effect of Sec-
tion 2 is the nurturing of a pluralistic society and the en-
hancement of the right of low-income parents to a meaning-
ful choice in the education of their children.

In addition to nurturing a pluralistic society, a secondary
effect of Section 2 would be to alleviate the problem of the
already overcrowded and understaffed “inner-city” public
schools by encouraging, through partial reimbursement of
tuition payments, low-income parents of children attending
nonpublic schools in those areas not to transfer their chil-
dren to public schools because of an inability to pay the
tuition required by nonpublic schools. Eligibility is re
stricted, and the amount of any reimbursement is restricted.
Section 2 is thus meticulously aimed at the problem of
low-income or poverty parents living in areas which would
be most seriously affected by large scale shut-downs of non-
public schools and transfers of pupils to the already hard-
pressed public schools therein.

In on v. Sloan, 340 F. Supp. 1356 (E.D. Pa. 1972),
docket no. on appeal 72-459, the Court invalidated a stat-
ute providing flat tuition grants to all parents of nonpublic
_ school parents without regard to need on the ground that
- its principal or primary effect was the advancement of

12

religion.’ In so doing, the court sought to draw a distinc.
tion between tuition reimbursement, on the one hand, and
the furnishing by the state of services to the nonpublic
school or pupil, on the other. It concluded that since tui-
tion was essential to nonpublic schools, any reimbursement
of such tuition was constitutionally impermissible. Judge
Lord stated:

. . » By providing parents with additional funds be-
cause they have paid tuition at nonpublic schools, the
Commonwealth is trying to insure the continued ability
of the parents to afford tuition costs and therefore the
continued existence of nonpublic schools, including sec-
tarian schools. The necessary effect of such a program,
if it is to succeed, is that the schools will be aided by
state funds. The state cannot maintain that the Act
has the purpose of promoting education by supporting
nonpublic schools and then deny that the effect of the
Act is to aid these schools. 340 F. Supp. at 1364.

This reasoning completely misapplies the principal or pri-
mary effect test and ignores this Court’s repeated state-

* The Pennsylvania statute found unconstitutional by the District
Court in Sloan provides for payments of $75 and $150 to parents
of elementary and secondary nonpublic school pupils, respectively,
or “the actual amount of tuition paid or contracted to be paid by
a parent, whichever is lesser.” [1971] Laws of Pa. No. 92, § 7, Pa.
Stat. tit. 24, § 5707. In other words, it provides flat grants to all
parents without correlation to their financial needs. The act en-
titles many parents, rich and poor alike, to payments equal to the
entire amount of tuition they actually paid. Under Section 2 of
Chapter 414, on the other hand, appellant Cherry, with two high
‘school sons and a New York taxable income of less than five thou-
sand dollars and who paid $500.00 in tuition, is entitled only to'a
$200 reimbursement. As stated above, appellant Ferguson, with a
daughter in high school and a New York taxable income of less
than $1,000 and who paid $700.00 in tuition? is entitled to only a
$100 reimbursement. Appellant Ruiz, with two daughters in high
school and a New York taxable income of less than five thousand
dollars and who paid $400.00 (and now pays $1,000) in tuition, is

entitled to only a $200 reimbursement.

13

ments that a statute is not unconstitutional simply because
an effect is or may be to help religion. Rather, as stated
by the Chief Justice in Tilton and as elucidated in earlier
decisions such as Allen and School District of Abington
Township v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 208 (1963), a statute will
be invalidated only where advancement of religion is the
principal or primary effect. In the case of Section 2, any
advancement.of religion would be incidental.

In Wolman v. Essex, 342 F. Supp. 399 (8.D. Ohio), aff'd,
41 U.S.L.W. 3182 (Docket No. 71-1664, Oct. 10, 1972), the
District Court, in ‘striking down an Ohio parental reim-
bursement program, did not hold that the principal or pri-
mary effect was to advance religion.

The Ohio statute was strikingly different from Section 2
of Chapter 414, It provided flat grants to all parents of
$90.00 per nonpublic school pupil, also without any correla-
tion to the financial situation of the parent. Before a parent
could receive such a grant, he must have “spent an amount
equal to or in excess of the per-child grant for the purpose
of providing educational opportunities to his child equiva-
lent to those available to children in the public schools...”
Thus, a person who spent $90.00 would have gotten back
100 percent, $100.00 90 percent, and so on. Just as is true
with the Pennsylvania statute, but unlike Section 2 of
Chapter 414, the Ohio act contained no mechanism for lim.
iting the aid to one half or less of the tuition actually paid
by parents who have a grave financial need. Presumably,
the entire tuition fee for some children could be subject to
state reimbursement under the Ohio statute. This Court’s
action in affirming the District Court’s judgment in Wolman
should therefore not preclude full review of Section 2 of

14

Chapter 414, which is explicitly limited as to qualified
parents and as to amounts reimbursed.

There are innumerable laws, both federal and state,
which result in far greater direct benefits to church-related
educational institutions than the conceptual benefit con-
ferred by Section 2. For example, the Veterans Readjust-
ment Benefits Act of 1966° (“G.I. Bill of Rights”) and Na-
tional Defense Education Act of 1958° provide tuition pay-
ments (and in the case of the G.I. Bill, textbooks) for stu-
dent veterans attending schools and colleges of their choice,
whether public or private, secular or religious. The War
Orphans’ and Widows’ Educational Assistance Act’ pro-
vides for subsistence, tuition, ete. for widows and children
of persons in the armed forces who die of service connected
disabilities, regardless of whether the tuition is at public
or private educational institutions. The New York State
Regents Scholarship Program” provides 19,500 scholar-
ships annually to apply toward tuition at any public or
nonpublic post-secondary school, regardless of religious
affiliation, with the amount of the scholarship varying de-
pending on the income of the student’s family. The New
York State Scholar Incentive Program” authorizes grants
to students attending any public or nonpublic post-second-
ary school, regardless of religious affiliation, provided the
student meets specified academic standards, with the
amount of the grant varying, depending on the income of

* 38 U.S.C. ch. 33.

* 20 U.S.C. ch. 17.

2 38 U.S.C. § 1700 et seg.

11.N. Y. Edue. Law § 601.
N.Y, Edue. Law § 601-a.

‘

15

the student’s family. The Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965" provides funds to local educational
agencies to meet the special educational needs of children
from low-income families ; authorizes grants for acquisition
of school library resources, textbooks and other instruc-
tional materials for the use of children and teachers in
both public and private elementary and secondary schools;
and authorizes grants for supplementary educational cen-
ters and services. The Legislative Reorganization Act of
1946" provides that pages in the Senate, House of Repre-
sentatives and this Court may be educated either in the
public schools of the District of Columbia or in “a private
or parochial school of their own choice,” the cost thereof to
be borne by the United States Treasury.

The purpose of these various statutes was certainly not
to advance religion. Rather, it was to meet the special needs
of certain groups, such as veterans, war orphans, low-
income families, and even pages in Congress and this Court,
for financial assistance in obtaining an education. In view

of this, we suggest that the action of the District Court

in invalidating Section 2 deserves a full review by this
Court. .

Excessive Entanglement or Involvement

_ The third part of the test summarized in Lemon v. Kurtz-
man and Tilton is whether a statute fosters “excessive gov-
ernment entanglement with religion”.

” This Court has recognized: “No perfect or absolute sepa-

tation [between religion and government] is really possible;
* 79 Stat. 27.

~*2US.C. § 88a.

ti

16

the very existence of the Religion Clauses is an involvement
of sorts—one that seeks to mark boundaries to avoid exces-
sive entanglement.” Walz v. Tax Commission of the City of
New York, 397 U.S. at 670. “In order to determine whether
the government entanglement with religion is excessive, we
must examine the character and purposes of the institutions
which are benefited, the nature of the aid that the State pro-
vides, and the resulting relationship between the govern-
ment and religious authority.” Lemony. Kurtzman, 408
US. at 615. But, “[n]Jo one of these three factors standing —
alone is necessarily controlling,” Tilton v. Richardson, 403 —
US. at 688 (Burger, C.J.) ; it is their combination which is
decisive.

In Walz, this Court found that tax exemptions for church-
owned properties resulted in “... only a minimal and re-
mote involvement .. . far less than taxation.” 397 U.S. at
676. In Tilton, this Court found that a federal statute pro-
viding construction grants for secular-purpose buildings
at religiously-affiliated colleges and universities did not
foster excessive entanglement with religion for several rea-
sons, including the absence of any need for “ . . . intensive
government surveillance.” 403 U.S. at 687.

On the other hand, the Rhode Island and Pennsylvania
statutes providing for state payment of the salaries of
teachers of secular courses in nonpublic schools were in-
validated because of the need for extensive probing by the
state into the internal affairs of the schools to ensure that
the state funds were being used only for secular teaching.
This Court stated in Lemon v. Kurtzman with respect to
the Rhode Island statute:

17

A comprehensive, discriminating, and continuing
state surveillance will inevitably be required to ensure
that these restrictions are obeyed and the First Amend-
ment otherwise respected. Unlike a book, a teacher
cannot be inspected once so as to determine the extent
and intent of his or her personal beliefs and subjec-
tive acceptance of the limitations imposed by the First
Amendment. These prophylactic contacts will involve

excessive and enduring entanglement between state and
church. 403 U.S. at 619.

And with respect to the Pennsylvania statute:

..- In particular the government’s post-audit power to
inspect and evaluate a church-related school’s financial
records and to determine which expenditures are re-
ligious and which are secular creates an intimate and
continuing relationship between church and state. 403
U.S. at 621-22.

Tested by these criteria, any government involvement
in or entanglement with religion is nonexistent or incon-
sequential in the case of Section 2. A low-income parent
simply fills out a form which provides standard information
concerning himself and his child and sets forth the number
of months of attendance and the amount of tuition paid.
This information is then certified by the school authorities
and forwarded to the State Education Department. Since
the only relevant facts are the parent’s income, the amount
of tuition paid and the fact and periods of attendance by
the child, there can be no occasion for any surveillance by
the state of the nonpublic school’s activities beyond that
which has always been conducted to ensure compliance by
such schools with the academic and other requirements im-
posed on all schools, public and nonpublic alike, by the
New York Education Law.

18

The District Court in its opinion raised extreme hypo-
thetical questions irrelevant to this case:

... If State subsidy may be given for religious educa-
tion, why may it not be given to the poor for the pur-
chase of sacramental wine, or a crucifix or a Torah, a
printing press for Jehovah’s Witnesses, or a trip to a
Baptist convention or to hear a favorite evangelist, or
for a Muslim to take his pilgrimage to Mecca. Appen-
dix, p. 28a. —
This case does not involve such hypothetical eventualities,
but rather deals with the hard fact that poor parents wish-
ing a nonpublic school education for their children are de-
prived of a free and fair choice. Moreover, Section 2 does
not relieve those poor parents of the economic burdens as-
sociated with nonpublic school education, but simply al-
leviates those burdens to the very minor and limited extent
of either half of the tuition paid or $5 or $10 per month
per child, whichever is less. This is only a fraction of the
total cost of even the secular aspect of their tuition.

19

Conclusion

It is subritted that the District Court erred in deciding
that Sectio? 2 violates the Establishment Clause, that the
questions presented by this appeal are substantial and of
mtraording? public importance, and that this Court should
ite probal!® jurisdiction.

D “te dl, 1972

Respectfully submitted,

Porter R. CHANDLER
Attorney for Appellants
1 Chase Manhattan Plaza
New York, New York 10005
Tel.: (212) HA 2-3400

---

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