About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

2003 Hawaii Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (2003)

handle is hein.sag/saghi0001 and id is 1 raw text is: LINDA LINGLE                                         MARK J. BENNETT
GOVERNOR                                            ATTORNEY GENERAL
RICHARD T. BISSEN, JR.
FIRST DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL
STATE OF HAWAI
DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
425 QUEEN STREET
HoNoLuLu, HAWAII 96813
(808) 586-1500
February 7, 2003
The Honorable Blake K. Oshiro
Representative, Thirty-Third District
The Twenty-Second Legislature
State of Hawaii
State Capitol #332
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Dear Representative Oshiro:
Re: The Constitutionality of School Vouchers in Hawaii
This is in response to your letter dated October 18, 2002,
in which you requested legal advice regarding school vouchers.
ISSUES RAISED
1.   Is Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, -- U.S. --, 122 S.Ct. 2460
(2002), distinguishable in Hawaii?
2.   Would a school voucher program violate the Hawaii State
Constitution?
BRIEF ANSWERS
1.   Yes. In Zelman, the United States Supreme Court held
that the Ohio school voucher program did not violate
the Establishment Clause of the United States
Constitution, which prevents a State from enacting laws
that have the purpose or effect of advancing or
inhibiting religion. Zelman is inapposite in Hawaii
because a Hawaii school voucher program would be
precluded under Article X, Section 1 of the Hawaii
State Constitution and not the Establishment Clause of
the United States Constitution. Significantly, the
Establishment Clause was drafted to promote the
separation of church and state and Article X, Section 1
of the Hawaii State Constitution was drafted for policy
reasons that have nothing to do with religion.
33637_2.DOC                                           Op. No. 03-01

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most