834
Opinion of Thomas, J.
supra, the evidence of actual diversion and the weakness of the safeguards against actual diversion are not relevant to the constitutional inquiry, whatever relevance they may have under the statute and regulations.
Respondents do, however, point to some religious books that the LEA improperly allowed to be loaned to several religious schools, and they contend that the monitoring programs of the SEA and the Jefferson Parish LEA are insufficient to prevent such errors. The evidence, however, establishes just the opposite, for the improper lending of library books occurred—and was discovered and remedied—before this litigation began almost 15 years ago.18 In other words, the monitoring system worked. See post, at 866 (O'Connor, J., concurring in judgment). Further, the violation by the LEA and the private schools was minor and, in the view of the SEA's coordinator, inadvertent. See App. 122a. There were approximately 191 improper book requests over three years (the 1982-1983 through 1984-1985 school years); these requests came from fewer than half of the 40 private schools then participating; and the cost of the 191 books
persuasive evidence that Chapter 2 audiovisual equipment was used in a Catholic school's theology department. "[M]uch" of the equipment at issue "was purchased with Federal funds," App. 205a, and those federal funds were, from the 1982-1983 school year on, almost certainly Chapter 2 funds, see id., at 210a; cf. id., at 187a, 189a. The diversion occurred over seven consecutive school years, id., at 206a-207a, and the use of the equipment in the theology department was massive in each of those years, outstripping in every year use in other departments such as science, math, and foreign language, ibid. In addition, the dissent has documented likely diversion of computers. Post, at 910.
18 The coordinator of the Jefferson Parish LEA ordered the books recalled sometime in the summer or early fall of 1985, and it appears that the schools had complied with the recall order by the second week of December 1985. App. 162a, 80a-81a. Respondents filed suit in early December. This self-correction is a key distinction between this instance of providing improper content and the evidence of actual diversion. See n. 17, supra.
Page: Index Previous 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007