Florida Attorney General Approves Allocation of Public Funds to...

(NewsNation) — In a bold move, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has declared his intention to halt the enforcement of a constitutional clause that bars state funding for religious organizations and churches.

Embedded in Article I, Section 3 of Florida’s Constitution is a stipulation that explicitly prohibits the allocation of state funds to support churches, religious denominations, or any sectarian institutions, either directly or indirectly.

CAIR-Florida has expressed concerns that a new Florida domestic terrorism bill may lead to excessive policing measures.

Uthmeier contends that this clause effectively excludes religious groups from participating in state grant programs, arguing that such exclusion infringes upon the First Amendment. By limiting which organizations are eligible for funding, regardless of their intended use, the provision undermines the religious freedoms enshrined by the Framers, he explained in a legal opinion published last Thursday.

Uthmeier also argued that the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause — which prohibits the government from establishing an official religion — applies only at the federal level. In his lengthy explanation, Uthmeier argued that the nation’s founders did not bar any state from “encouraging” religion, particularly Christianity.

“In fact, many states at the Framing had established churches,” Uthmeier wrote.

Uthmeier’s move will allow taxpayer dollars to fund scholarships for religious institutions and religious charter schools in the state.

In the opinion, Uthmeier also addressed atheism, which he maintains is protected by the First Amendment’s free exercise clause — but not as much as it protects believers, he argued.

“It does not privilege actions motivated by unbelief in the same way it privileges actions motivated by belief,” he wrote.

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Florida Attorney General Approves Allocation of Public Funds to Religious Organizations and Schools

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