Saturday, February 12, 2005

Virginia argues that the Establishment Clause does not wholly constrain the states?

In a Findlaw column titled Virginia's Bizarre Claim to the Supreme Court Asserting that the Establishment Clause Does Not Constrain the States, the author claims that in an amicus brief filed by the Commonwealth involving the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, Virginia takes the position that "the states should have broad latitude to institute religious programming in the state prisons, without federal government intervention like RLUIPA," and in support of this view, Virginia claims that "the Establishment Clause does not wholly apply to the states," citing the dissenting opinion by Justice Thomas in the Pledge of Allegiance case.

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