81 N.Y.2d 518, 618 N.E.2d 94, 601 N.Y.S.2d 61 (1993)
r
r
A state law creating a public school district that aligns with the boundaries of a religious community violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because it conveys a message of endorsement of religion.
r
r
Summary
r
This case concerns the constitutionality of a New York state law that created a separate public school district for the Village of Kiryas Joel, a village populated almost entirely by members of the Satmarer Hasidic sect. The plaintiffs argued that the law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The New York Court of Appeals agreed, holding that the law’s primary effect was to advance religion because it created a symbolic union of church and state, endorsing the religious choices of the Satmarer Hasidim. The court reasoned that this action was not a neutral service, but rather a specific accommodation to a religious community, violating the principle of separation of church and state.
r
r
Facts
r
The Village of Kiryas Joel is inhabited almost exclusively by members of the Satmarer Hasidic sect, who maintain a distinct cultural and religious identity, including Yiddish as their primary language and separation from the outside community. Prior to 1985, handicapped children in Kiryas Joel received special education services from the Monroe-Woodbury Central School District in an annex to a religious school. After the Supreme Court decision in Aguilar v. Felton, these services were discontinued at the religious school annex. Some children attended public schools, but parents withdrew them, citing the children’s trauma. In response, the New York Legislature enacted Chapter 748 of the Laws of 1989, creating the Kiryas Joel Village School District coterminous with the village’s boundaries.
r
r
Procedural History
r
Plaintiffs, as citizen taxpayers, sued the Board of Education of the Kiryas Joel Village School District and the Board of Education of the Monroe-Woodbury Central School District, alleging a violation of the Establishment Clause. The Supreme Court granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs, finding the statute unconstitutional. The Appellate Division affirmed. The Court of Appeals then reviewed the case.
r
r
Issue(s)
r
Whether the creation of a separate school district for the Village of Kiryas Joel, whose residents are primarily of the Satmarer Hasidic sect, violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
r
r
Holding
r
No, because the statute has the primary effect of advancing religion by creating a symbolic union of church and state and endorsing the religious choices of the Satmarer Hasidim.
r
r
Court’s Reasoning
r
The court applied the second prong of the Lemon v. Kurtzman test, which states that a statute’s principal or primary effect must neither advance nor inhibit religion. The court reasoned that Chapter 748 created a symbolic union of government and religion. The court found that the statute creating a school district aligned with a religious community sent a message of endorsement of that religion, violating the Establishment Clause. The court distinguished this case from Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School Dist., where a deaf student was provided with a sign language interpreter in a religious school, because that case involved a neutral government service offered as part of a general program, whereas Chapter 748 was a specific accommodation to a religious community. The court emphasized that special services were already available to handicapped children in Kiryas Joel, so the primary effect of the law was not to provide services but to yield to the demands of a religious community with unique separatist tenets. The court noted,