New Jersey Superior Court for Mercer County set a precedent when it entertained arguments last Friday on public aid to private schools. Leo Pfeffer, special counsel of the American Jewish Congress, said that the proposed aid for construction at private institutions "would make a mockery of the First Amendment if its prohibition could be evaded by ‘earmarking’ state grants to specific parts of a sectarian school." He added: "Money granted to a college advances its purpose, no matter how the money is entered by accountants on its books." Mr. Pfeffer represents four New Jersey members of the AJ Congress in the case of Clayton v. Kervick, begun in 1967. "The crux of the matter," the attorney contended. ‘is that the buildings, like the furnace in the church, are not vide in themselves but means to an end, and any financial grant that aide the mesas advances the aids. The end of a church college, like the end of a church, is to advance religion; else why have church colleges?" Continuing, Mr. Pfeffer observed: "The money granted to them goes into their general treasuries; the dollars in those treasuries…cannot be distinguished from each other. What moneys the colleges get from New Jersey free them to spend other moneys on other functions, including religious instruction."
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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.
