2011 Victories: School Choice Protected at the Supreme Court

This is the latest installment in a year-end series looking back at a few of the hundreds of victories by the ACLJ in 2011.

Earlier this year the Supreme Court considered a major school choice case. At issue was an Arizona tuition tax credit program that allowed individuals who donated to organizations that provide scholarships for private school students to get a state income tax credit. The ACLU challenged this tax credit program as a violation of the Establishment Clause because some of these donations were used to provide scholarships for students at religious schools.

The ACLJ filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to reject this lawsuit on the basis that the challengers had no standing to sue. Individuals do not have a right to challenge government taxing and spending policies with which they disagree. The Supreme Court agreed, and by a 5-4 vote threw the lawsuit out, allowing this and at least six other similar school choice tax credit laws to stand in states across the nation. This represents a major victory for school choice.

To help the ACLJ continue to have the resources we need to make these victories possible and continue these fights, please consider making a donation to the ACLJ through our year-end Matching Challenge. Your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar though the end of the year.

You can read more in the ACLJ’s 2011 Victories series here.