Cite as: 530 U. S. 793 (2000)
Souter, J., dissenting
than questioning school officials and examining the location of computers at the schools, id., at 118a. No records of software and computer use were kept, and no such recordkeeping was even planned. Id., at 118a, 164a-166a. State and local officials in Jefferson Parish admitted that nothing prevented the Chapter 2 computers from being used for religious instruction, id., at 102a, 118a, 164a-166a, and although they knew of methods of monitoring computer usage, such as locking the computer functions, id., at 165a-166a, they implemented no particular policies, instituted no systems, and employed no technologies to minimize the likelihood of diversion to religious uses,26 id., at 118a, 165a-166a. The watchdogs did require the religious schools to give not so much as an assurance that they would use Chapter 2 computers solely for secular purposes, Helms v. Picard, 151 F. 3d 347, 368 (1998), amended, 165 F. 3d 311 (CA5 1999); App. 94a-95a. Government officials themselves admitted that there was no way to tell whether instructional materials had been diverted, id., at 118a, 139a, 144a-145a, and, as the plurality notes, the only screening mechanism in the library book scheme was a review of titles by a single government official, ante, at 832-833, n. 15; see App. 137a. The government did not even have a policy on the consequences of non-compliance. Id., at 145a.
The risk of immediate diversion of Chapter 2 benefits had its complement in the risk of future diversion, against which the Jefferson Parish program had absolutely no protection. By statute all purchases with Chapter 2 aid were to remain the property of the United States, 20 U. S. C. § 7372(c)(1), merely being "lent" to the recipient nonpublic schools. In actuality, however, the record indicates that nothing in the
26 The Government's reliance on U. S. Department of Education Guidance for Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (Feb. 1999) is misplaced. See App. to Brief for Secretary of Education 1a. It was not in place when discovery closed in this matter, and merely highlights the reasons for a lack of evidence on diversion or compliance.
907
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