Aguilar v. Felton, 473 U.S. 402 (1985) VS Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203 (1997)

The First Amendment provides that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion (U .S . Constitution , 1791 Jurisprudence on the matter , otherwise known as the Establishment Clause , has grown and developed through the years , sometimes leaving contrary doctrines . An example of this can be found in a comparison of the cases Aguilar vs . Felton (473 U .S . 402 , 1985 , Aguilar ) and Agostini vs . Felton (521 U .S . 203 , 1997 , Agostini

In Aguilar , the court held as unconstitutional New York City ‘s use of federal funds originally received under Title I [banner_entry_middle]

of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 , codified in 1982 . The program under Title I allowed the Secretary of Education to release financial assistance to local educational institutions to meet the educational needs of children deprived of such who were from low-income families Specifically , the New York City program in place since 1966 provided Title I funded instructional services to parochial school students on parochial school grounds . These services are carried out by volunteer regular employees of public schools . These volunteers are assigned and supervised by the City ‘s Bureau of Nonpublic School Reimbursement through field personnel . All volunteers are directed to stay clear of religious activities and are prohibited from having religious materials in their classrooms , and the schools themselves are required to clear out the classroom of any and all religious materials . The materials and equipment for these programs are provided by the Government and are used only for these programs

The action in Aguilar was brought by six taxpayers in 1978 , challenging the constitutionality of the Title I programs and seeking injunctive relief from the further release of federal funds . The lower court upheld the constitutionality of the programs based on the outcome of Public Education and Religious Liberty vs . Harris (489 F . Supp . 1248 SDNY 1980 . The Court of Appeals reversed and held that as interpreted by the Supreme Court , the Establishment Clause is an insurmountable barrier to the use of federal funds in religious schools

The Supreme Court affirmed , its decision turned on that of School District of Grand Rapids vs . Bell (473 U .S . 373 , 1985 , Bell . In that case , two remedial and enhancement programs very similar to the one in question were held unconstitutional . The Court invalidated the Bell program because it was held to have the impermissible effect of advancing religion , based on the assumptions that , one , any public employee who works on the premises of a religious school is presumed to inculcate religion in his work two , the presence of public employees in private school premises creates a symbolic union between church and state and three , any and all 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 decision making . It was pointed out that there was a difference between the two programs , because New York has a system of monitoring the program so as not to lend itself… [banner_entry_footer]