Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind

Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind (1986) addressed the question of whether a student's use of state disability funds at a religious college would violate the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a student's receiving such financial assistance and using it at a religious college did not amount to the kind of direct subsidy prohibited by the Establishment Clause. However, the Court left open the question whether the Supreme Court of Washington, on remand, could prohibit the financial assistance under its more restrictive state constitution. In fact, Washington's high court did exactly that on remand, finding that the indirect subsidies to religious institutions, even if not prohibited by ...