How Sectarian Is Too Sectarian?
A federal judge ruled Friday that Colorado is entitled to bar state scholarship funds from going to students at “pervasively sectarian” institutions. The ruling rejected a suit brought by Colorado Christian University, which did not challenge a state agency’s determination of the university’s religious nature, but said that applying a test of whether an institution is “pervasively sectarian” amounts to a violation of some religious institutions’ freedom to express their faiths. But Judge Marcia S. Krieger ruled that despite a general skepticism in federal courts of late about barring religious institutions from receiving government funds, Supreme Court rulings still gave Colorado the right to limit the use of its funds as the state has done. The ruling could be significant beyond Colorado. The university is taking the case to a federal appeals court, where any ruling will have more value as a precedent. The U.S. Justice Department is also involved in the case — and tried to use it (wi
