ZOBREST v. CATALINA FOOTHILLS SCHOOL DISTRICT

Legal Principle at Issue

Whether the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits a public school district from funding a sign-language interpreter for a deaf student attending a religious school under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Action

Reversed, holding that the Establishment Clause did not prohibit the district from providing the interpreter because the IDEA was a neutral program offering assistance to disabled students without regard to religion.

Facts/Syllabus

James Zobrest, who had been deaf since birth, attended a Roman Catholic high school in Tucson, Arizona. His parents asked the public school district to provide the sign-language interpreter, which he was entitled to under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The school district refused after state and local officials determined that placing a publicly funded interpreter in a religious school would violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed, reasoning that the interpreter could appear to support or facilitate the school’s religious instruction.