The American Jewish Congress announced today it would seek a prompt court test of the constitutionality of provisions in the Federal aid to education act giving government aid to religiously controlled schools. Howard M. Squadron, chairman of the organization’s Commission on Law and Social Action, said the Jewish group “strongly supported” Federal aid to public schools. But, he said, the AJC would challenge “those parts of the Morse-Perkins Act that violate the First Amendment guarantee of separation of church and state.”
Mr. Squadron said supporters of the legislation had given repeated assurances during the debate on the bill in Congress that court tests of the measure could be brought. “We plan to take them at their word by supporting any test cases that may be properly brought by interested parties,” he said.
Mr. Squadron spoke at a meeting of the national governing council of the American Jewish Congress. In a resolution, the Council’s policy-making body authorized participation by the organization’s legal staff in one or more test cases designed to challenge the new Act.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
