Brief of National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs ("COLPA"), Agudath Harabonim of the United States and Canada, National Council of Young Israel, Rabbinical Alliance of America, Rabbinical Council of America, Torah Umesorah -- National Society of Hebrew Day Schools, Agudath Israel of America, and Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America ("U.O.J.C.A.") as Amici Curiae in Support of Defendants-Appellees

Authors

• Nathan Lewin, Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin, L.L.P.
• Richard W. Garnett, Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin, L.L.P.
• Dennis Rapps, National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs

Document Type

Brief

Case Name

Doris Simmons-Harris v. John M. Goff, Sue Gatton v. John M. Goff

Publication Date

12-5-1997

Abstract

No. 97-1117
Doris Simmons-Harris v. John M. Goff, Sue Gatton v. John M. Goff

On Appeal from the Court of Common Pleas for Franklin County

From the Argument

In United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549, 552 (1995), the United States Supreme Court reminded us to "start with first principles." Accordingly, the Court reaffirmed just last summer in Agostini that it is a fundamental "first principle" of constitutional law that the First Amendment's Religion Clauses require government neutrality -- not hostility, fear, or suspicion -- towards religion. See 117 S.Ct. at 2014. Ohio's Pilot Program, which increases individual freedom of choice while remaining carefully neutral about the objects of those choices, is consistent with this fundamental first principle. The decision of the court below is not.

Comments

The amici are national Orthodox Jewish organizations that represent Jewish parents who choose to enroll their children in Jewish day schools where they receive religious training along with a secular education. This choice often entails great difficulties and sacrifices, both economic and personal. A yeshiva education is expensive, and many Jewish parents adjust and subordinate their own personal and professional lives to provide this education to their children, as is required by their religion.

Recommended Citation

Lewin, Nathan; Garnett, Richard W.; and Rapps, Dennis, "Brief of National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs ("COLPA"), Agudath Harabonim of the United States and Canada, National Council of Young Israel, Rabbinical Alliance of America, Rabbinical Council of America, Torah Umesorah -- National Society of Hebrew Day Schools, Agudath Israel of America, and Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America ("U.O.J.C.A.") as Amici Curiae in Support of Defendants-Appellees" (1997). Court Briefs. 127.
https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/sct_briefs/127