Wednesday, February 8, 2006
Religion and eminent domain: A Twist
Several bloggers and commentators have warned that, after the Court's decision in Kelo, we can expect local governments to regard churches in declining neighborhoods as attractive targets for redevelopment-takings. Professor Friedman has posted about an interesting case that comes at the religion-and-eminent-domain problem from another angle:
Eminent Domain Taking Violates Establishment Clause
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania issued an interesting First Amendment decision yesterday in a case captioned Re: 1839 North Eighth Street, (Feb. 6, 2006). In a 4-3 decision, the court held that the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority violated the Establishment Clause when it used the power of eminent domain to condemn property in a blighted area of the city and turn it over to the Hope Partnership, a private religious organization, for it to use as a school. The majority found that the taking of property for religious use violated all three prongs of the Lemon test. The dissent argued, on the other hand, that the majority’s approach amounted to viewpoint discrimination against religious groups. The AP has a report on the decision.
Why, I wonder, shouldn't the development of a religious school -- which, I assume, could accept voucher-receiving students, consistent with the Establishment Clause -- that will educate (and educate well) low-income kids, thus increasing their opportunities and (I assume) productivity, be a "public use" if a Wal-Mart or a tech-center is a "public use"?
https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2006/02/religion_and_em.html