
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 28, 1994                   TAG: 9406300068
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: From Knight-Ridder Newspapers and The Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

CHURCH, STATE SEPARATION AFFIRMED

The Supreme Court, insisting Monday that the government cannot single out a religious group for favored treatment, struck down New York's creation of a special public school district for a sect of Hasidic Jews.

The 6-3 ruling was a victory for supporters of separation of church and state and a defeat for conservatives fighting for greater government accommodation of religion.

``The decision means we won't face the prospect of fundamentalist Christian schools, Catholic schools or Muslim schools all operating as public schools,'' said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Led by Justice David Souter, the high court affirmed the rulings of New York state courts that the state Legislature's creation of the Kiryas Joel Village School District, 40 miles north of New York City, for disabled children was unconstitutional.

The state Legislature violated the fundamental principle that ``government should not prefer one religion to another, or religion to irreligion,'' Souter said.

The requirement of government neutrality doesn't mean the government may not relieve religion from the damaging impact of broadly applicable laws, Souter explained.

However, ``we have never hinted that an otherwise unconstitutional delegation of political power to a religious group could be saved as a religious accommodation,'' he said.

The 6-3 ruling disappointed those who hoped the court would use the case to fashion new, less stringent rules for keeping religion and government separate.

Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in dissent that the decision ``is astounding'' and continues a trend of using the First Amendment as ``a repealer of our nation's tradition of religious toleration.''

He was joined by Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justice Clarence Thomas.

Five court members said they want to consider broadening government accommodation of religion through a different approach.

Two who voted against Kiryas Joel - Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy - agreed with the three dissenters that the court should re-examine a 1985 ruling that barred publicly funded classes at religious schools.

by CNB