N.Y. Court of Appeals Backs Program of Released School Time for Religious Education

The Court of Appeals of New York State yesterday issued a decision upholding the constitutionality of the New York City program permitting public school children to be released from classes one hour a week for outside religious instruction. The decision was adopted by 6 to 1. Associate Judge Stanley H. Fuld cast the only dissenting vote.

In his dissenting opinion, Judge Fuld held that the Court of Appeals was bound by the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the McCollum case in which ”released time” in Champaign, L11., was declared unconstitutional. Under the New York plan, children are released from public school attendance for one hour a week, at their parents’ request, to attend religious classes not held on school property. The New York City released-time program was challenged by Tessim Zorach, son of William Zorach, sculptor, and Mrs. Esta Gluck, wife of an attorney. Both litigants are the parents of children attending Brooklyn schools.

Commenting on the Court of Appeal’s decision, Charles H. Tuttle, chairman of Greater New York Co-ordinating Committee on Released Time of Jews, Protestants and Catholics, said: ”This decision should put an end to the unseemly and anomalous efforts of minority groups to use our constitutional guaranties of religious freedom for the contradictory purpose of compelling all our states to override the religious convictions of other parents in the matter of the upbringing and character-forming of their own children.”