16
Blackmun, J., dissenting
ute does not require or the federal regulations prohibit provision of a sign-language interpreter in a sectarian school.1
The majority does not deny the existence of these alternative grounds, nor does it dispute the venerable principle that constitutional questions should be avoided when there are nonconstitutional grounds for a decision in the case. Instead, in its zeal to address the constitutional question, the majority casts aside this "time-honored canon of constitutional adjudication," Spector Motor Service, 323 U. S., at 105, with the cursory observation that "the prudential rule of avoiding constitutional questions has no application" in light of the "posture" of this case, ante, at 8. Because the parties chose not to litigate the federal statutory issues in the District Court and in the Court of Appeals, the majority blithely proceeds to the merits of their constitutional claim.
But the majority's statements are a non sequitur. From the rule against deciding issues not raised or considered below, it does not follow that the Court should consider constitutional issues needlessly. The obligation to avoid unnecessary adjudication of constitutional questions does not depend upon the parties' litigation strategy, but rather is a "self-imposed limitation on the exercise of this Court's jurisdiction [that] has an importance to the institution that transcends the significance of particular controversies." City of Mesquite v. Aladdin's Castle, Inc., 455 U. S. 283, 294 (1982). It is a rule whose aim is to protect not parties but the law and the adjudicatory process. Indeed, just a few days ago, we expressed concern that "litigants, by agreeing on the legal issue presented, [could] extract the opinion of a court
1 Respondent also argues that public provision of a sign-language interpreter would violate the Arizona Constitution. Article II, § 12, of the Arizona Constitution provides: "No public money or property shall be appropriated for or applied to any religious worship, exercise, or instruction, or to the support of any religious establishment." The Arizona attorney general concluded that, under this provision, interpreter services could not be furnished to James. See App. 9.
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