federal gov funding skype skoolz, clear violation of 1st amendment

[cheka.]

wtf??

http://www.vosizneias.com/233666/2016/03/16/rockland-county-ny-fbi-raids-ramapo-in-yeshivah-education-grant-probe/

Rockland County, NY - Several dozen FBI agents armed with search warrants spread out early this afternoon throughout Ramapo in a raid that is reportedly related to illegal purchase of equipment by religious schools with federal funding allocated for educational technology.

According to The Journal News agents raided several vendors in Monsey and Airmont at approximately 1:30 PM, demanding records related to the purchase of technological equipment through the government’s E-Rate program which distributes over $4 billion to schools nationwide each year for computers and internet access.

Questions were raised by both The Jewish Week and The Forward in 2013 about the high rate of E-Rate dollars being allocated to Jewish schools, many of whom forbid internet usage.

The Jewish Week reported that an inspector for the Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Inspector General investigated $1 million of technology purchases by the United Talmudic Academy that were subsidized by the program in 1999. While the investigation recommended that $900,000 of the funding be returned because of major violations, no reimbursements were ever made.

Peretz Klein, of Hashomer Alarm Systems in Spring Valley told The Journal News in a 2013 interview that the program was instrumental in providing computers and modern technology in many religious schools. The E-Rate program, created in 1996, was reportedly a major source of business for Hashomer, with millions of dollars in grants paying for servers, wiring and other technology in schools in both Rockland County and Brooklyn.

Hashomer Alarm Systems, is one of several businesses at 29 Robert Pitt Drive, one of the addresses raided by the FBI today. It is not known if the FBI had a search warrant for the company’s records and calls to Hashomer Alarm Systems went unanswered. Other addresses that were subject to FBI raids today were 21 Robert Pitt Drive, 161 Route 59 and 386 Route 59.

The raid comes in the shadow of last week’s report that as many as 50 people in Ramapo and Clarkstown, most of whom are elected officials, will be brought up on federal indictments.

The FBI said in a statement “Today, the FBI conducted searches in connection with an ongoing fraud investigation. If and when charges are filed, they will eventually become public. This remains an ongoing matter, and we are unable to provide any additional information at this time.”

U.S. Attorney Preet Bhara or Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe were not available for immediate comment.

[cheka.]

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

[cheka.]

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:qEmewUKU5FcJ:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_v._Kurtzman+&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971),[1] was a case argued before the Supreme Court of the United States. The court ruled in an 8–1[2] decision that Pennsylvania's Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Education Act (represented through David Kurtzman) from 1968 was unconstitutional, violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

The act allowed the Superintendent of Public Schools to reimburse private schools (mostly Catholic) for the salaries of teachers who taught in these private schools, from public textbooks and with public instructional materials. The decision also upheld a decision of the First Circuit, which had struck down the Rhode Island Salary Supplement Act providing state funds to supplement salaries at private elementary schools by 15%. As in Pennsylvania, most of these funds were spent on Catholic schools.

[cheka.]

http://law.justia.com/constitution/us/amendment-01/02-establishment-of-religion.html

“The ‘establishment of religion’ clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Neither can force nor influence a person to go to or to remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion.

No person can be punished for entertaining or professing religious beliefs or disbeliefs, for church attendance or non-attendance. No tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions, whatever they may be called, or whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice religion. Neither a state nor the Federal Government can, openly or secretly, participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups and vice versa. In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect ‘a wall of separation between church and State.”58

[monty]

The same reasoning should be applied to federal funding that violates the 10th amendment.

[crimethink]

This will be reversed on January 20th. Watch.

[cheka.]

This will be reversed on January 20th. Watch.

they are already doing it for skype orgs...no reverse needed