In a decision that I believe was correctly decided, the Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled that an $11 million legislative appropriation to a Southern Baptist Convention affiliated university violated the state's constitution. The university in question, University of the Cumberlands, has a history of discrimination against those not adhering to its religious dogma and had previously expelled a gay student for posting comments about his sexual orientation and dating life on the Internet. As I have argued many times on this blog, if an institution wants to accept public funds, then it must leave aside its religious based discrimination against those of other faiths and other sexual orientations. They simply do not get to have their cake and eat it too. No citizen should be required in help fund an institution that discriminates against them. Perhaps Richard Land and the SBC could take some of monies used to demonize gays and oppose gay rights and fund the pharmacy school. Here are some details from Cincinnati.com:*
The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a Baptist university can't keep $11 million awarded by state lawmakers some four years ago to open a pharmacy school. . . A trial court judge had ruled in 2008 that the appropriation to the private, church-affiliated university violates the state constitution. The university's attorneys appealed directly to the supreme court, skipping the court of appeals, in hopes of expediting a decision.
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Justice Lisabeth Abramson, writing for the majority, said the appropriations violated two sections of the state constitution. "If Kentucky needs to expand the opportunities for pharmacy school education within the commonwealth, the Kentucky General Assembly may most certainly address that pressing public need, but not by appropriating public funds to an educational institution that is religiously affiliated," Abramson wrote.
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Abramson also said the scholarship program "is precisely the type of special privilege and favoritism" that the constitution condemns. Daphne Baird, spokeswoman for the university, said the decision is a death knell for the proposed pharmacy school.
The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a Baptist university can't keep $11 million awarded by state lawmakers some four years ago to open a pharmacy school. . . A trial court judge had ruled in 2008 that the appropriation to the private, church-affiliated university violates the state constitution. The university's attorneys appealed directly to the supreme court, skipping the court of appeals, in hopes of expediting a decision.
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Justice Lisabeth Abramson, writing for the majority, said the appropriations violated two sections of the state constitution. "If Kentucky needs to expand the opportunities for pharmacy school education within the commonwealth, the Kentucky General Assembly may most certainly address that pressing public need, but not by appropriating public funds to an educational institution that is religiously affiliated," Abramson wrote.
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Abramson also said the scholarship program "is precisely the type of special privilege and favoritism" that the constitution condemns. Daphne Baird, spokeswoman for the university, said the decision is a death knell for the proposed pharmacy school.
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Franklin County Special Circuit Judge Roger Crittenden had held in the initial ruling that the state appropriation violated a constitutional prohibition against public education money being spent on any "church, sectarian or denominational school."
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The gay-rights group Kentucky Fairness Alliance filed the lawsuit in 2006 after the University of the Cumberlands expelled a gay student for posting comments about his sexual orientation and dating life on the Internet. Attorneys for the organization tried using the expulsion to bolster their arguments in the lawsuit that the school shouldn't receive funding from Kentucky taxpayers.
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American Civil Liberties Union attorney Bill Sharp said Kentucky's constitution contains broader protections against public funding for private, church-affiliated schools than does the U.S. Constitution. Sharp said it appears some state lawmakers want to overlook those protections, which, he said, made the outcome of the lawsuit "extremely important."
Franklin County Special Circuit Judge Roger Crittenden had held in the initial ruling that the state appropriation violated a constitutional prohibition against public education money being spent on any "church, sectarian or denominational school."
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The gay-rights group Kentucky Fairness Alliance filed the lawsuit in 2006 after the University of the Cumberlands expelled a gay student for posting comments about his sexual orientation and dating life on the Internet. Attorneys for the organization tried using the expulsion to bolster their arguments in the lawsuit that the school shouldn't receive funding from Kentucky taxpayers.
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American Civil Liberties Union attorney Bill Sharp said Kentucky's constitution contains broader protections against public funding for private, church-affiliated schools than does the U.S. Constitution. Sharp said it appears some state lawmakers want to overlook those protections, which, he said, made the outcome of the lawsuit "extremely important."
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