Mitchell v. Helms, 530 U.S. 793, 113 (2000)

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906

MITCHELL v. HELMS

Souter, J., dissenting

secondary religious schools that raise the most serious Establishment Clause concerns. See Walz, 397 U. S., at 671; Hunt, 413 U. S., at 743; Lemon, supra, at 636-637. The threat to Establishment Clause values was accordingly at its highest in the circumstances of this case. Such precaution-ary features as there were in the Jefferson Parish scheme were grossly inadequate to counter the threat. To be sure, the disbursement of the aid was subject to statutory admonitions against diversion, see, e. g., 20 U. S. C. §§ 7332, 8897, and was supposedly subject to a variety of safeguards, see ante, at 802-803, 832-834. But the provisions for onsite monitoring visits, labeling of government property, and government oversight cannot be accepted as sufficient in the face of record evidence that the safeguard provisions proved to be empty phrases in Jefferson Parish. Cf. Agostini, 521 U. S., at 228-229; Zobrest, 509 U. S., at 13 (accepting precautionary provisions in absence of evidence of their uselessness).

The plurality has already noted at length the ineffectiveness of the government's monitoring program. Ante, at 832-834; see also App. 111a ("A system to monitor nonpublic schools was often not in operation and therefore the [local educational agency] did not always know: (a) what was purchased or (b) how it was utilized"). Monitors visited a non-public school only sporadically, discussed the program with a single contact person, observed nothing more than attempts at recordkeeping, and failed to inform the teachers of the restrictions involved. Id., at 154a-155a. Although Chapter 2 required labeling of government property, it occurred haphazardly at best, id., at 113a, and the government's sole monitoring system for computer use amounted to nothing more

or not, are certainly instructed that when issues come up in the classroom that have a religious, moral, or value concept, that their answers be consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church and that they respond in that way to the students, so that there can be opportunities in other classes other than religion where discussion of religio[n] could take place, yes, sir"); id., at 73a, 74a.

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