The Freedom From Religion Foundation is filing a major lawsuit today against South Carolina officials on behalf of four Palmetto State citizens challenging the unconstitutional funding of a private religious school. “An upstate Christian organization that’s raising money to build a $14 million residential school for disadvantaged and at-risk youth has a surprising benefactor: the state of South Carolina,” reports the daily newspaper of Columbia, the capital city. “In a move that legal scholars say raises constitutional questions, state lawmakers included a $1.5 million earmark in this year’s budget to help Christian Learning Centers of Greenville County get its new school off the ground.” FFRF’s assessment goes beyond what the publication describes: The funding is not only questionable, it is downright unconstitutional. “The South Carolina Constitution prohibits public funds to be used to directly benefit any private educational institution (Article XI, Section 4),” reads the legal complaint that the state/church watchdog has filed in the Court of Common Pleas in the Fifth South Carolina Judicial Circuit. “Additionally, the South Carolina Constitution contains an Establishment Clause that mirrors the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which prohibits the General Assembly from making any ‘law respecting an establishment of religion’ […]
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