The ruling upheld a program of searches at random subway entrances that New York police started on July 22, soon after terrorist bombings in the subways in London.
The 5-to-4 decision upheld a program in a rural Oklahoma district that required students engaged in "competitive" extracurricular activities -- including the future homemakers' club, the cheerleading squad and the choir -- to submit to random drug testing.
The court tried to minimize what it was doing, but by upholding a program in which 96percentt of the participants attend religious schools, the court removed a number of bricks from the wall separating church and state.
In Allen, the Court of Appeals upheld a program requiring "all school boards to purchase and to loan textbooks on an equitable basis to all pupils residing in the school district who are attending … any public or nonpublic school". (emphasis added).
The 5-to-4 decision upheld a program in a rural Oklahoma district that required students engaged in "competitive" extracurricular activities, a category that includes the future homemakers' club, the cheerleading squad and the choir, to submit to random drug testing.
Chief Justice Rehnquist's opinion for the 5-to-4 majority in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, No. 00-1751, found support in the court's precedents for upholding a program of "true private choice" when the government is neutral between religious and secular choices.
In 25 years on the court, Justice Kennedy has never voted to uphold a government program that counts people by race.
In its first opportunity to take a stance on affirmative action, the Bush administration asked the Supreme Court tonight to uphold a Transportation Department program intended to help minority contractors.
In June 2000, the court voted 6 to 3 to uphold a federal program under which all elementary and secondary schools in the country, including religious schools, can receive loans of computers and other equipment.
The real possibility that the court could uphold a vouchers program -- and may also decide later this year that the Constitution protects, rather than prohibits, student-led prayer at high-school sports events -- has put defenders of strict separation between church and state in an apocalyptic mood.
In the first sign that a new legal team is shaping the government's advocacy before the Supreme Court, the Bush administration is asking the justices to uphold an Ohio program that offers Cleveland parents tuition assistance to send their children to private schools, including religious schools.
