Vouchers a violation of state’s constitution

The people of Nevada, 135 years ago, voted to separate church and state by specifically adding to the Nevada Constitution the requirement that "no public funds of any kind or character whatever, State, County or Municipal, shall be used for sectarian purposes." This became Article 11, Section 10 of the Nevada Constitution. But since we at the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed our lawsuit Duncan v. Nevada on Aug. 27, we have seen and heard all manner of criticism from those who believe obtaining a voucher card from the state will set them free from the shackles of public education, and thus are willing to throw the mandates and protections of the Nevada Constitution aside.

But as we stated when announcing the lawsuit: "Parents are free to choose whether their children attend public or private schools in Nevada, but if a parent chooses to send their child to a private religious school, the Nevada Constitution prohibits them from doing so at taxpayers' expense."

Proponents have complained that we are stifling their liberty by thwarting their attempts to recoup the money they sent to the state to pay for educating their children, but this is a false narrative. Parents never paid $5,100 to the state specifically for the education of their own children. The state's estimated $5,100 average amount per child is calculated from a complicated formula that includes taxes we all pay (children or not). So, if a voucher card is ever issued, it will be loaded up with the tax money we pay to guarantee every child's access to a public education. Parents who choose to send their children to private schools (parochial or not) forgo the guaranteed public education and the money we all pay that is allocated for their children — until this year.

The authors and supporters of Senate Bill 302 respond with indignation that we at the ACLU would dare challenge their cherished voucher card scheme to funnel public money to private parochial schools. Simply, the state should not fund religious education and indoctrination. This is exactly why we filed suit to stop this unconstitutional violation of the Nevada Constitution.

It should come as no surprise that a civil liberties organization such as the ACLU would challenge the constitutionality of a law impinging on the separation of church and state. Even the sponsors knew this when they exempted SB302 from the statute that mirrors the constitutional prohibition. Not surprisingly, the same sponsors of SB302 failed in 2013 to repeal the section of the Nevada Constitution that forbade this voucher card program. If the language in this voucher law is so airtight, so obvious and so sacrosanct, why exempt it from statute and attempt to amend the constitution to make it work?

That is the question every Nevadan should be asking about this program, and why we at the ACLU had to do something about it. Religious liberty is a civil liberty. No one's religious liberties are challenged by our lawsuit. Rather, the civil liberties of those who oppose funneling state money to religious schools are violated when the state supports religion with its tax dollars. Which is why 135 years ago, Nevadans amended the constitution to prohibit it.

Proponents of vouchers would like to obscure the reason Nevadans blocked public funds going to parochial purposes 135 years ago by cherry-picking evidence to support their views. In the late 19th century, James Blaine sought to protect public tax dollars by stopping religious institutions from using public tax dollars in support of their preferred religious education institutions. Blaine introduced language to amend the U.S. Constitution and reinforce the wall separating church and state in America. When the amendment failed in the U.S. Senate, many states amended their own constitutions to adopt the very protections Blaine had sought in his amendment.

Voucher proponents prefer to characterize these amendments as anti-Catholic, but no evidence exists to substantiate their claims against Blaine. In fact, Blaine's own mother was Catholic, and his daughters attended Catholic schools.

Nevadans spoke 135 years ago, cementing the wall separating church and state so that no public money of any kind could be used for religious purpose. Thankfully, Nevadans took action then to prevent what so-called "choice" advocates are trying to do now with voucher cards. If Nevadans want their tax dollars to be used for religious purposes, then their constitution will have to be amended. Nevadans know better, and we at the ACLU will continue to defend Nevadans' liberties granted by our constitution.

— Tod Story is executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada.