The Catholic Lawyer Volume 41 Number 2 Volume 41, Fall 2001, Number 2 Article 5 Mitchell v. Helms: Does Government Aid to Religious Schools Violate the First Amendment? An Extensive Analysis of the Decision and Its Repercussions Peter Swift Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/tcl Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, and the First Amendment Commons This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Catholic Lawyer by an authorized editor of St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. MITCHELL v. HELMS: DOES GOVERNMENT AID TO RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS VIOLATE THE FIRST AMENDMENT? AN EXTENSIVE ANALYSIS OF THE DECISION AND ITS REPERCUSSIONS PETER A. SWIFT* INTRODUCTION The United States Constitution prohibits Congress from enacting legislation regarding the establishment of religion.' The Establishment Clause grows out of the First Amendment and not only prohibits the institution of an official church, but also bars the use of public funds for religious institutions. 2 The religion *J.D. Candidate, June 2002, St. John's University School of Law. B.A./B.S. University of Scranton, summa cum laude (1998). 1 See U.S. CONST. amend. I. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. ..." Id.; see also Everson v. Bd. of Educ., 330 U.S. 1, 15 (1947) (setting a standard by which religion clauses were to be interpreted by holding that neither the state or federal government can set up a religion).