In November, Floridians are slated to vote on two amendments to their state’s constitution that would, if approved, allow for school vouchers. But today an array of groups filed suit asking the Second Circuit to block the vote.
Commenting on this is Catholic League president Bill Donohue:
“The Florida Constitution contains provisions of what was once known as the Blaine Amendment. Those provisions, which also appear in the constitutions of 36 other states, were written to prohibit Catholic schools in the 19th century from receiving state aid. Ironically, Catholic schools were founded in direct response to the anti-Catholic bigotry found in the public schools. No matter, when parochial schools asked for state assistance, they were met with amendments to state constitutions that followed the lead of Senator James Blaine, a virulent anti-Catholic. It is precisely the Blaine amendment provisions to the Florida constitution that the electorate wants to vote on in November. But now the anti-religious forces want to disenfranchise them.
“The following organizations favor disenfranchising Floridians: ACLU, ADL, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and People for the American Way; various teachers unions, at the national and state level, have joined with them in filing suit.
“All of these groups have a long record of opposing religious liberty, as well as any kind of choice issue (save for killing kids in the womb). Now they are trying to stop the people from deciding what kind of education system they want.
“In the 1960s, the slogan ‘Power to the People’ rolled out of every radical’s mouth. Now that they’ve aged, they’ve done a 180—nothing bothers them more than letting the people decide how they want to be governed. Which explains their fondness for judicial tyranny.”
