521 U.S. 203 (1997), 96-552, Agostini v. Felton
Docket Nº: | Case No. 96-552 |
Citation: | 521 U.S. 203, 117 S.Ct. 1997, 138 L.Ed.2d 391, 65 U.S.L.W. 4524 |
Party Name: | AGOSTINI et al. v. FELTON et al. |
Case Date: | June 23, 1997 |
Court: | United States Supreme Court |
Page 203
Argued April 15, 1997
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT.
Syllabus
In Aguilar v. Felton, 473 U.S. 402, 413, this Court held that New York City's program that sent public school teachers into parochial schools to provide remedial education to disadvantaged children pursuant to Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 necessitated an excessive entanglement of church and state and violated the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. On remand, the District Court entered a permanent injunction reflecting that ruling. Some 10 years later, petitionersthe parties bound by the injunctionfiled motions in the same court seeking relief from the injunction's operation under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60 (b)(5). They emphasized the significant costs of complying with Aguilar and the assertions of five Justices in Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet, 512 U.S. 687, that Aguilar should be reconsidered, and argued that relief was proper under Rule 60 (b)(5) and Rufo v. Inmates of Suffolk County Jail, 502 U.S. 367, 388, because Aguilar cannot be squared with this Court's intervening Establishment Clause jurisprudence and is no longer good law. The District Court denied the motion on the merits, declaring that Aguilar's demise has "not yet occurred." The Second Circuit agreed and affirmed.
Held:
1. A federally funded program providing supplemental, remedial instruction to disadvantaged children on a neutral basis is not invalid under the Establishment Clause when such instruction is given on the premises of sectarian schools by government employees under a program containing safeguards such as those present in New York City's Title I program. Accordingly, Aguilar, as well as that portion of its companion case, School Dist. of Grand Rapids v. Ball, 473 U.S. 373, addressing a "Shared Time" program, are no longer good law. Pp. 215-236.
(a) Under Rufo, supra, at 384, Rule 60 (b)(5)which states that, "upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party . . . from a final judgment . . . [when] it is no longer equitable that the judgment
Page 204
should have prospective application"authorizes relief from an injunction if the moving party shows a significant change either in factual conditions or in law. Since the exorbitant costs of complying with the injunction were known at the time Aguilar was decided, see, e. g., 473 U.S., at 430-431 (O'Connor, J., dissenting), they do not constitute a change in factual conditions sufficient to warrant relief, accord, Rufo, supra, at 385. Also unavailing is the fact that five Justices in Kiryas Joel expressed the view that Aguilar should be reconsidered or overruled. Because the question of Aguilar's propriety was not before the Court in that case, those Justices' views cannot be said to have effected a change in Establishment Clause law. Thus, petitioners' ability to satisfy Rule 60 (b)(5)'s prerequisites hinges on whether the Court's later Establishment Clause cases have so undermined Aguilar that it is no longer good law. Pp. 215-218.
(b) To answer that question, it is necessary to understand the rationale upon which Aguilar and Ball rested. One of the programs evaluated in Ball was the Grand Rapids, Michigan, Shared Time program, which is analogous to New York City's Title I program. Applying the three-part Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602, 612-613, test, the Ball Court acknowledged that the Shared Time program satisfied the test's first element in that it served a purely secular purpose, 473 U.S., at 383, but ultimately concluded that it had the impermissible effect of advancing religion, in violation of the test's second element, id., at 385. That conclusion rested on three assumptions: (i) any public employee who works on a religious school's premises is presumed to inculcate religion in her work, see id., at 385-389; (ii) the presence of public employees on private school premises creates an impermissible symbolic union between church and state, see id., at 389, 391; and (iii) any public aid that directly aids the educational function of religious schools impermissibly finances religious indoctrination, even if the aid reaches such schools as a consequence of private decisionmaking, see id., at 385, 393, 395-397. Additionally, Aguilar set forth a fourth assumption: that New York City's Title I program necessitates an excessive government entanglement with religion, in violation of the Lemon test's third element, because public employees who teach on religious school premises must be closely monitored to ensure that they do not inculcate religion. See 473 U.S., at 409, 412-414. Pp. 218-222.
(c) The Court's more recent cases have undermined the assumptions upon which Ball and Aguilar relied. Contrary to Aguilar's conclusion, placing full-time government employees on parochial school campuses does not as a matter of law have the impermissible effect of advancing religion through indoctrination. Subsequent cases have modified in two significant respects the approach the Court uses to assess
Page 205
whether the government has impermissibly advanced religion by inculcating religious beliefs. First, the Court has abandoned Ball's presumption that public employees placed on parochial school grounds will inevitably inculcate religion or that their presence constitutes a symbolic union between government and religion. Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School Dist., 509 U.S. 1, 12-13. No evidence has ever shown that any New York City instructor teaching on parochial school premises attempted to inculcate religion in students. Second, the Court has departed from Ball's rule that all government aid that directly aids the educational function of religious schools is invalid. Witters v. Washington Dept. of Servs. for Blind, 474 U.S. 481, 487; Zobrest, supra, at 10,12. In all relevant respects, the provision of the instructional services here at issue is indistinguishable from the provision of a sign-language interpreter in Zobrest. Zobrest and Witters make clear that, under current law, the Shared Time program in Ball and New York City's Title I program will not, as a matter of law, be deemed to have the effect of advancing religion through indoctrination. Thus, both this Court's precedent and its experience require rejection of the premises upon which Ball relied. Pp. 222-230.
(d) New York City's Title I program does not give aid recipients any incentive to modify their religious beliefs or practices in order to obtain program services. Although Ball and Aguilar completely ignored this consideration, other Establishment Clause cases before and since have examined the criteria by which an aid program identifies its beneficiaries to determine whether the criteria themselves have the effect of advancing religion by creating a financial incentive to undertake religious indoctrination. Cf., e. g., Witters, supra, at 488; Zobrest, supra, at 10. Such an incentive is not present where, as here, the aid is allocated on the basis of neutral, secular criteria that neither favor nor disfavor religion, and is made available to both religious and secular beneficiaries on a nondiscriminatory basis. Under such circumstances, the aid is less likely to have the effect of advancing religion. See Widmar v. Vincent, 454 U.S. 263, 274. New York City's Title I services are available to all children who meet the eligibility requirements, no matter what their religious beliefs or where they go to school. Pp. 230-232.
(e) The Aguilar Court erred in concluding that New York City's Title I program resulted in an excessive entanglement between church and state. Regardless of whether entanglement is considered in the course of assessing if a program has an impermissible effect of advancing religion, Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York, 397 U.S. 664, 674, or as a factor separate and apart from "effect," Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S., at 612-613, the considerations used to assess its excessiveness
Page 206
are similar: The Court looks to the character and purposes of the benefited institutions, the nature of the aid that the State provides, and the resulting relationship between the government and religious authority. Id., at 615. It is simplest to recognize why entanglement is significant and treat itas the Court did in Walz as an aspect of the inquiry into a statute's effect. The Aguilar Court's finding of "excessive" entanglement rested on three grounds: (i) the program would require "pervasive monitoring by public authorities" to ensure that Title I employees did not inculcate religion; (ii) the program required "administrative cooperation" between the government and parochial schools; and (iii) the program might increase the dangers of "political divisiveness." 473 U.S., at 413-414. Under the Court's current Establishment Clause understanding, the last two considerations are insufficient to create an "excessive entanglement" because they are present no matter where Title I services are offered, but no court has held that Title I services cannot be offered off campus. E. g., Aguilar, supra. Further, the first consideration has been undermined by Zobrest. Because the Court in Zobrest abandoned the presumption that public employees will inculcate religion simply because they happen to be in a sectarian environment, there is no longer any need to assume that pervasive monitoring of Title I teachers is required. There is no suggestion in the record that the system New York City has in place to monitor Title I employees is insufficient to prevent or to detect inculcation. Moreover, the Court has failed to find excessive entanglement in cases involving far more onerous...
To continue reading
FREE SIGN UP-
Definition of “Waters of the United States” Under the Clean Water Act
...case which directly controls, Page 22258 leaving to the Supreme Court the prerogative of overruling its precedents. Agostino v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 237 (1997); United States v. Hatter, 532 U.S. 557, 566-567 (1981). Moreover, when the Supreme Court overturns established precedent, it is ex......
-
Equal Participation of Faith-Based Organizations in the Federal Agencies' Programs and Activities
...purposes, because they could not be trusted to prevent the diversion of government funds to religious uses. Cf. Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 224 (1997) (noting the Supreme Court's rejection of the idea that ``solely because of her presence on private school property, a public employee ......
-
332 F.Supp.2d 325 (D.Mass. 2004), 01-10384, United States v. Sampson
...declare the Federal Death Penalty Act unconstitutional for this reason. See Sampson, 275 F.Supp.2d at 72 (citing Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 238, 117 S.Ct. 1997, 138 L.Ed.2d 391 (1997); Rodriguez de Quijas v. Shearson/Am. Exp., Inc., 490 U.S. 477, 484, 109 S.Ct. 1917, 104 L.Ed.2d 526 ......
-
66 F.Supp.2d 288 (D.R.I. 1999), C. A. 97-416, Rhode Island Medical Soc. v. Whitehouse
...Court speaks explicitly. See Hohn v. United States, 524 U.S. 236, ----, 118 S.Ct. 1969, 1978, 141 L.Ed.2d 242 (1998); Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 236, 117 S.Ct. 1997, 2017, 138 L.Ed.2d 391 (1997). But the fact is that Casey is "the case which directly controls" this issue. S......
-
332 F.Supp.2d 325 (D.Mass. 2004), 01-10384, United States v. Sampson
...declare the Federal Death Penalty Act unconstitutional for this reason. See Sampson, 275 F.Supp.2d at 72 (citing Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 238, 117 S.Ct. 1997, 138 L.Ed.2d 391 (1997); Rodriguez de Quijas v. Shearson/Am. Exp., Inc., 490 U.S. 477, 484, 109 S.Ct. 1917, 104 L.Ed.2d 526 ......
-
66 F.Supp.2d 288 (D.R.I. 1999), C. A. 97-416, Rhode Island Medical Soc. v. Whitehouse
...Court speaks explicitly. See Hohn v. United States, 524 U.S. 236, ----, 118 S.Ct. 1969, 1978, 141 L.Ed.2d 242 (1998); Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 236, 117 S.Ct. 1997, 2017, 138 L.Ed.2d 391 (1997). But the fact is that Casey is "the case which directly controls" this issue. S......
-
70 M.J. 225 (U.S. Armed Forces 2011), 11-0149, United States v. Fosler
...apply when a statute, executive order, or other basis for a decision changes." Id. (footnotes omitted); see also Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 235-36, 117 S.Ct. 1997, 138 L.Ed.2d 391 (1997). Although the dissenting opinions argue at length for the application of stare decisis, the ......
-
729 F.Supp.2d 257 (D.D.C. 2010), C. A. 93-452 (GK), Salazar v. District of Columbia
...rarely constitute the extraordinary circumstances required for relief" under this subsection of the Rule. Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 239, 117 S.Ct. 1997, 138 L.Ed.2d 391 (1997). In Gonzalez v. Crosby, 545 U.S. 524, 125 S.Ct. 2641, 162 L.Ed.2d 480 (2005), the Supreme Court held t......
-
SEC's 'Obey-the-Law' Injunction: Is It Ever Possible To Vacate?
..."obey-the-law" injunctions may be vacated if they are no longer equitable for a variety of reasons. ( Agostini v. Feltoni , 521 U.S. 203, 215 (1997); Railway Employers v. Wright , 364 U.S. 642 (1961)). However, to obtain the extraordinary judicial relief of FRCP 60(b), the movant ......
-
Ensuring That The Presumption Against Express Preemption Stays Dead
...control[ ]" here, we "leav[e] to [the Supreme Court] the prerogative of overruling its own decisions," Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 237 (1997), and continue to apply the presumption against preemption to claims, like those in this case, that invoke "the historic pol......
-
Establishment of Religion or Affordable Housing Incentive? Glassman v Arlington County
...an ‘excessive government entanglement’ with religion. See Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602, 612-13 (1971); see also Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 232 (1997) (stating that ‘excessive entanglement’ has sometimes been considered independently, and sometimes as part of the ‘effects’ analysis......
-
Ensuring That the Presumption Against Express Preemption Stays Dead
...not “directly control[ ]” here, we “leav[e] to [the Supreme Court] the prerogative of overruling its own decisions,” Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 237 (1997), and continue to apply the presumption against preemption to claims, like those in this case, that invoke “the historic police po......
-
Foreign law and opinion in state courts.
...at 174. (34) Nor would this necessarily be expected from a state court following the Supreme Court's admonition in Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 237 (1997), not to overrule Supreme Court precedent based on other cases that appear to have undermined such precedent. As the Missouri Suprem......
-
An overview and evaluation of state Blaine Amendments: origins, scope, and First Amendment concerns.
...v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993); Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of Univ. of Va., 515 U.S. 819 (1995); Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203 (1997); Mitchell v. Helms, 530 U.S. 793 (2000). (462.) See generally McDaniel, 435 U.S. 618; Church of the Lukumi, 508 U.S. 520; Rosenberger, ......
-
Partial-birth abortion and the perils of constitutional common law.
...through legislative action is practically impossible, this Court has often overruled its earlier decisions.'"); Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 235-36 (1997) (to similar effect). Several scholars have argued that constitutional law precedents should be overruled if the Court conclude......
-
Material Causes of the Five Eras of American Law
...234 (1995) ("strict" in theory is not "fatal" in fact), discussed at ß 26.2.1.4.D. [80] See, e.g., Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203 (1997) (aid to schools); Zelman v. Simmons- Harris, 536 U.S. 639 (2002) (vouchers), discussed at ß 32.1.3.1.B.1. [81] See, e.g., United Sta......
-
Definition of “Waters of the United States” Under the Clean Water Act
...case which directly controls, Page 22258 leaving to the Supreme Court the prerogative of overruling its precedents. Agostino v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 237 (1997); United States v. Hatter, 532 U.S. 557, 566-567 (1981). Moreover, when the Supreme Court overturns established precedent, it is ex......
-
Equal Participation of Faith-Based Organizations in the Federal Agencies' Programs and Activities
...purposes, because they could not be trusted to prevent the diversion of government funds to religious uses. Cf. Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 224 (1997) (noting the Supreme Court's rejection of the idea that ``solely because of her presence on private school property, a public employee ......
-
Nondiscrimination in Matters Pertaining to Faith-Based Organizations
...Mitchell v. Helms, 530 U.S. 793, 808 (2000) (plurality opinion); id. at 845 (O'Connor, J., concurring in judgment); Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 223 (1997). This terminology is fairly interpreted to prohibit the government from directly subsidizing any ``explicitly religious activity,'......
-
Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards; Direct Grant Programs; and State-Administered Programs
...Scalia, and Kennedy, JJ., plurality); id. at 845 (O'Connor, J., joined by Breyer, J., concurring in the judgment); Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 223 (1997). This terminology is fairly interpreted to prohibit the Government from directly subsidizing any ``explicitly religious activity,''......