The Pennsylvania State Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the state’s busing law which requires public school districts in the state to provide free transportation to children of private and religious schools.
The five-to-two decision dealt with a consolidated suit filed in two counties, Abington and Rose Tree, in which the American Jewish Congress was a sponsor. Leo Pfeffer, the AJCongress law expert, served as an attorney for the plaintiffs in the consolidated case. The suit was filed directly with the State Supreme court in August 1965.
The ruling also struck down a separate challenge to the constitutionality of the 18-month old law which was filed as a taxpayers’ suit in Philadelphia in March, 1966 by the Presbyter of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Baptists Association, the Council of Liberal Churches, and the Philadelphia Jewish Community Relations Council.
A spokesman for the Philadelphia JCRC said that the ruling would be studied before a determination was made as to whether the decision should be appealed.
In New York, the Agudath Israel of America and the National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs, an organization composed of young Orthodox Jewish lawyers, welcomed the decision as “the latest victory for justice for non-public school children,”
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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.
