Trial Court Refuses Temporary Injunction In Indiana School Voucher Challenge

An Indiana trial court judge has refused to issue a temporary injunction to block the state's new school voucher program.  In Meredith v. Daniels, (IN Super. Ct., Aug. 15, 2011), plaintiffs claimed that the new Choice Scholarship Program violated various provisions of the Indiana Constitution: Art. 8, Sec. 1 ("General and Uniform System of Common Schools" clause); Art. 1, Sec. 4  (no compulsion to support any place of worship); and Art. 1, Sec. 6 (no government funds may be spent for the benefit of any religious institution).  The court concluded that plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed on the merits of any of these claims. It held that Art. 1, Sec. 4 "does not preclude the use of general tax revenues to fund scholarships that may be used, at the discretion of scholarship recipients, to pay for education at religious schools."  It also held that Art. 1, Sec. 6 does not invalidate the CSP because the scholarship program "was enacted 'for the benefit' of students, not religious institutions or activities."  NWI Times reports on the decision.