Flast v. Cohen

392 U.S. 83 (1968)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Appellant taxpayers allege that federal funds have been disbursed by appellee federal officials under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to finance instruction and the purchase of educational materials for use in religious and sectarian schools, in violation of the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment. Appellants sought a declaration that the expenditures were not authorized by the Act or, in the alternative, that the Act is to that extent unconstitutional. The complaint alleges that federal funds have been disbursed under the Act, 'with the consent and approval of the [appellees],' and that such funds have been used and will continue to be used to finance 'instruction in reading, arithmetic, and other subjects and for guidance in religious and sectarian schools' and 'the purchase of textbooks and instructional and library materials for use in religious and sectarian schools.' Appellant contends such expenditures violate the First Amendment because 'they constitute a law respecting an establishment of religion' and because they prohibit the free exercise of religion on the part of the [appellants] . . . by reason of the fact that they constitute compulsory taxation for religious purposes. The Government moved to dismiss on standing. The District Judge ruled that the standing question was of sufficient substance to warrant the convening of a three-judge court to decide the question. A three-judge court ruled, on the authority of Frothingham v. Mellon that appellants lacked standing to maintain the action.