AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC.
http://www.atheists.org
http://www.americanatheist.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
DEC. 11, 2000

For more information, please contact:
Ellen Johnson, President      (973) 334-5110
Ron Barrier, Spokesperson     (718) 967-6453


    CIRCUIT COURT RULES VOUCHERS VIOLATE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
           Atheists Praise Decision: "American people should
              not be taxed to support religious schools"

    American Atheists, a nationwide civil rights and First Amendment public
policy organization, praised today's decision by a panel of the U.S. Sixth
Circuit Court of Appeals in declaring Cleveland's controversial school
voucher program to be unconstitutional.
    "The ruling in SIMMONS-HARRIS v. ZELMAN shows once again that courts are
reluctant to allow the use of public money to promote religious schools
through schemes like 'vouchers' and 'scholarships,'" said Ellen Johnson,
President of American Atheists.  "This is a great victory for the First
Amendment, and all Americans who stand up for their freedom FROM religion."
    The 2-1 ruling supports an earlier order by U.S. District Judge Solomon
Oliver, who last December said that the voucher program clearly aided
religious groups since most of the affected schools had a religious
affiliation with the Catholic Church.  Writing for the Sixth Circuit Court,
Justice Clay noted that despite the legal obfuscation which established the
voucher program, "there is no evidence that the tuition vouchers serve as a
neutral form of state assistance which would excuse the directing funding of
religious institutions by the state..."
    The Cleveland program, a bellwether in the effort to funnel public aid to
private and religious institutions, "clearly has the impermissible effect of
promoting sectarian schools."
    Under the voucher scheme, students from low income families who live in
poorly performing school districts would qualify for up to 90% of tuition
costs in select private schools.  The program covered 3,761 students for the
1999-2000 school year.
    "Voucher schemes like this clearly threaten the stability of the public
education system," said Ms. Johnson, "and they compel millions of Americans
who profess no religious beliefs to support sectarian schools, and the
indoctrination of young people.  That's wrong, and we are glad to see that
the court is taking action to stop this abuse."
    Ron Barrier, National Spokesperson for American Atheists, noted that
today's decision is another defeat for groups which support government aid to
religious schools.  "Courts in Vermont and Maine have struck down similar
voucher schemes,  and declared that it is unconstitutional to use public
money to help religious schools."  He predicted that with fights over voucher
legislation taking place in several states,  the U.S. Supreme court may have
to take up the matter.

American Atheists, Inc.
P.O. Box 5733
Parsippany, NJ 07054-6733
Tel: (908) 276-7300
Fax: (908) 276-7402