January 20, 2016
Carson City, NV – Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt issued the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will hear the case of Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley. The Office of the Attorney General authored an amicus brief on behalf of 10 states urging the Court to take up the case and decide whether the U.S. Constitution allows a state to ban religious organizations from participating in otherwise neutral and generally available aid programs. This issue has divided courts across the country, particularly in education-related cases like the Education Savings Account cases currently pending in the Nevada courts:
“My Office is encouraged by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that will be of crucial significance in our defense of Nevada’s Educational Savings Accounts,” said Laxalt. “The program is currently being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, who are asking state courts to twist the Nevada Constitution in ways never imagined, much less intended by our framers, barring parents and private schools with religious affiliations from participating in this important statewide program. Nevada’s Constitution does not require religious discrimination, and we are hopeful our nation’s highest Court will confirm that the U.S. Constitution does not allow that either.”
To view the state of Nevada’s amicus brief filed on behalf of 10 states, click here.
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