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A Blaine Amendment is a rule in some state constitutions that says that the government cannot use public money to support religious organizations or schools. This means that the government cannot give money to churches or religious schools, even if they are doing good things. The rule was first proposed in 1875 by a senator named James G. Blaine, but it was not added to the U.S. Constitution. However, many states added it to their own constitutions.
A Blaine Amendment is a provision in a state constitution that enforces stricter separation of church and state than what is required by the Establishment Clause. It was proposed by Senator James G. Blaine in 1875, at the request of President Ulysses S. Grant, as an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment aimed to apply the Free Exercise and Establishment Clause to the states and prohibit the use of any state funds to support religious institutions, including private church-run schools, especially Roman Catholic schools.
Although the U.S. Senate narrowly voted against the amendment, many states amended their constitutions to include a "Blaine Amendment" that strictly prohibits the use of public money for the support of religious institutions.
For example, in Florida, the state constitution includes a Blaine Amendment that prohibits the use of public funds for religious institutions. This means that the state cannot provide funding to private religious schools, even if they meet the same standards as public schools.
Another example is in Colorado, where the state constitution's Blaine Amendment has been the subject of controversy. In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state's Blaine Amendment violated the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution by preventing religious schools from participating in a scholarship program that was available to secular private schools.
These examples illustrate how Blaine Amendments can impact the relationship between church and state and the use of public funds for religious institutions.