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Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District - Historical Background, The Facts Of The Case, The Lower Courts Rule, The Supreme Court Rules

decision parochial interpreter aid

Petitioner

Larry Zobrest, et al.

Respondent

Catalina Foothills School District

Petitioner's Claim

The government can pay to provide a sign language interpreter for a deaf student attending a parochial school without violating the constitutional separation of church and state.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

William B. Ball

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

John C. Richardson

Justices for the Court

Anthony M. Kennedy, William H. Rehnquist (writing for the Court), Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

Harry A. Blackmun, Sandra Day O'Connor, John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

18 June 1993

Decision

Reversed lower court rulings and held that the provision of a sign language interpreter in a parochial school did not violate First Amendment prohibitions against the establishment of a state religion.

Significance

This narrow 5-4 decision was one in a long line of cases in which the Supreme Court struggled to strike the proper balance between permissible and impermissible state aid to parochial schools. The closeness of the decision indicated that the issue would continue to be debated in the future.

Disposition of the Case

James Zobrest had already completed high school by the time the Supreme Court ruled in his favor. However, the Catalina Foothills School District agreed to reimburse his parents for the cost of hiring their own sign language interpreter.

Impact

Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District was a loss for those who favor a strict interpretation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Future decisions will reveal whether this case laid down a clear marker for states in determining what type of aid they can provide to religious schools.

Related Cases

  • Helling v. McKinney, 509 U.S. 25 (1993).
  • Reno v. Catholic School Services, Inc., 509 U.S. 43 (1993).
  • Darby v. Cisneros, 509 U.S. 137 (1993).
  • Shalala v. Schaeffer, 509 U.S. 292 (1993).

Sources

"Parochial School Aid."The New Republic, 10 July 1971.

Additional Topics

Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District - Historical Background

Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District - Further Readings

Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District - The Facts Of The Case

Larry Zobrest, a deaf high school student in Arizona, requested that his school district provide him with a sign language interpreter as mandated under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The school district declined, on the advice of the county attorney, claiming that such a provision would violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution. Arizona's…

Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District - The Lower Courts Rule

Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District - The Supreme Court Rules

On 18 June 1993, the Supreme Court issued its decision. Along narrow 5-4 lines, it reversed the rulings of the lower courts, holding that the First Amendment's establishment clause did not bar the Catalina Foothills School District from providing Zobrest with an interpreter. Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote the opinion for the five justice majority, with Justice Blackmun penning a dissent that was jo…

Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District - Dissenting Opinions

Writing in dissent, Justice Blackmun contended that the Supreme Court should not have even weighed in on the constitutional questions in the case, since the issue of whether the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires the school district to provide an interpreter at a private school was still in doubt--and would have rendered the larger questions moot. On the issue of separation of ch…

Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District - The Lemon Test

The Lemon test, named for the Supreme Court case Lemon v. Kurtzman, uses a three-part test to determine if laws or government activities are considered unconstitutional. For instance, to determine if parochial school aid is constitutional, the test asks if the aid is for a religious purpose, promotes a religion, or requires excessive entanglement between government and religion. The importance of …

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almost 4 years ago

The deaf student who was denied a sign language interpreter at Salpointe High School in Tucson, Arizona is named James Zobrest. Larry Zobrest, as mentioned in the Facts of the Cases Section, is his father.