The Mississippi Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Feb. 6, 2024, in a case challenging the constitutionality of providing public funds to private schools.
The Supreme Court will hear an appeal by the state of an October 2022 ruling by Hinds County Chancery Court Crystal Wise Martin who found it unconstitutional to provide public money to private schools.
The state, led by the office of Attorney General Lynn Fitch, is appealing Wise’s ruling.
The lawsuit was filed in 2022 by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Democracy Forward, and the Mississippi Center for Justice on behalf of Parents for Public Schools, a Jackson-based nonprofit. The lawsuit was filed after the Mississippi Legislature in the 2022 session provided $10 million in federal funds to private schools.
The lawsuit pointed out Section 208 of the Mississippi Constitution states that public funds could not be given to a school “not conducted as a free school.”
In its entirety, Section 208 reads, “No religious or other sect or sects shall ever control any part of the school or other educational funds of this state; nor shall any funds be appropriated toward the support of any sectarian school, or to any school that at the time of receiving such appropriation is not conducted as a free school.”
The state has argued that the appropriation is constitutional because the Legislature appropriates the money to the Department of Finance and Administration that then would disperse it to the private schools.
“The state cannot avoid compliance with our Constitution simply by delegating the power to disburse appropriated funds to an executive agency,” Martin wrote.
READ MORE: Politicians want private school vouchers, but not a vote to amend constitution to allow them
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
