The New Jersey Supreme Court is considering whether public money can be used for historic preservation projects or educational programs when they involve houses of worship.

The court on Monday heard more than four hours of argument in two cases in which lower courts reached different conclusions.

In the first case, Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Morris County, a trial judge ruled that the Constitution does not bar county officials from using historic preservation funds to help area churches, many of which are hundreds of years old, from receiving grants to help preserve their structures, some of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In the second case, American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey v. Hendricks, the Appellate Division ruled that the administration of Gov. Chris Christie violated the state constitution when it gave more than $11 million in grants to a Jewish rabbinical school and a Presbyterian seminary.

Hackensack solo Paul Grosswald represented the Freedom From Religion Foundation in the Morris County case. He asked the court to overturn Superior Court Judge Margaret Goodzeit's ruling allowing the grants.

“The government is not allowed to repair churches,” Grosswald said. “There are no exceptions for public purposes.”

Justice Faustino Fernandez-Vina noted that the public, in a referendum, had approved the use of the funds.

Grosswald said it did not matter. If the churches want to repair their structures, then congregants can raise the money among themselves to do so, he said.

Justice Jaynee LaVecchia noted that the purpose of the grants to the churches was simply to preserve the historic structures.

“The building is integral to the pursuit of religion,” Grosswald said.

The county's attorney, John Bowens, said Goodzeit's ruling should be upheld.

“This is extremely nonsectarian. The purpose is to preserve buildings,” said Bowens, of Florham Park's Schenck, Price, Smith & King. There is a long-standing tradition in New Jersey, he said, of having public agencies assist in the preservation of historic structures, including church buildings.

“This doesn't advance religion,” he said.

The Presbyterian Church in Morristown, which dates to 1733, is one of the churches slated to receive grant money. Its attorney, Kenneth Wilbur, also argued for Goodzeit's ruling to be upheld.

“This is for a completely neutral purpose,” said Wilbur, of the Florham Park office of Drinker Biddle & Reath. “It's for a secular purpose that benefits the public.”

In the school grants case, Assistant Attorney General Stuart Feinblatt asked the court to overturn the Appellate Division ruling.

The grants, he said, were not meant to promote religious teaching but rather to assist students in pursuing an education in their secular field of study, with the ultimate hope of persuading them to remain in New Jersey.

“The grants are designed to improve the educational experience as they move on through institutions of higher education,” said Feinblatt. “We're hoping to reduce outward migration.”

The grants, he said, are specifically written to prohibit that any of the funds be used to promote religious instruction.

Edward Barocas, the ACLU-NJ's legal director, told the court the purpose of the grants do not make any difference.

“There is a distinct prohibition on the use of taxpayer funds” to assist sectarian-based educational institutions, Barocas said.

In her ruling, Goodzeit said the Morris County freeholders used neutral criteria to award grants to both religious and secular buildings.

Goodzeit said an inflexible reading of the separation of church and state clause could be used to deny religious institutions from receiving police and fire services.

The freeholders had removed the case to federal court, but U.S. District Judge John Vazquez, sitting in Newark, remanded the lawsuit to the state courts in March 2016.

“Morris County desires to sustain historic landmarks, not just historic churches,” Goodzeit said in her ruling. “Just because the religious groups have put Morris County on notice that they intend to use their churches for worship does not mean that Morris County is somehow inextricably entangled with religion,” she said.

In the second case, a three-judge Appellate Division panel, relying on state Supreme Court precedent, said that the state Department of Education violated Article 1, Paragraph 3 of the constitution in 2013 when it awarded $10.6 million to Beth Medrash Govoha, a Jewish Yeshiva in Lakewood, and $645,323 to the Princeton Theological Seminary.

Appellate Division Judge Jack Sabatino, joined by Judges Allison Accurso and Karen Suter, said the Supreme Court barred the use of public funds to support religious institutions in its 1978 ruling in Resnick v. East Brunswick Board of Education.

“Applying that binding precedent here, we conclude that Resnick compels the invalidation of these grants of public funds to the yeshiva and the seminary,” Sabatino said.

The grant to the yeshiva was for $5.1 million for a library and research center and $5.5 million for construction of academic space. The grant to the seminary was for a technology upgrade to the library, improvements to distance-learning technology and technical upgrades to a conference room.

Jaynee LaVecchia

The New Jersey Supreme Court is considering whether public money can be used for historic preservation projects or educational programs when they involve houses of worship.

The court on Monday heard more than four hours of argument in two cases in which lower courts reached different conclusions.

In the first case, Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Morris County, a trial judge ruled that the Constitution does not bar county officials from using historic preservation funds to help area churches, many of which are hundreds of years old, from receiving grants to help preserve their structures, some of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In the second case, American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey v. Hendricks, the Appellate Division ruled that the administration of Gov. Chris Christie violated the state constitution when it gave more than $11 million in grants to a Jewish rabbinical school and a Presbyterian seminary.

Hackensack solo Paul Grosswald represented the Freedom From Religion Foundation in the Morris County case. He asked the court to overturn Superior Court Judge Margaret Goodzeit's ruling allowing the grants.

“The government is not allowed to repair churches,” Grosswald said. “There are no exceptions for public purposes.”

Justice Faustino Fernandez-Vina noted that the public, in a referendum, had approved the use of the funds.

Grosswald said it did not matter. If the churches want to repair their structures, then congregants can raise the money among themselves to do so, he said.

Justice Jaynee LaVecchia noted that the purpose of the grants to the churches was simply to preserve the historic structures.

“The building is integral to the pursuit of religion,” Grosswald said.

The county's attorney, John Bowens, said Goodzeit's ruling should be upheld.

“This is extremely nonsectarian. The purpose is to preserve buildings,” said Bowens, of Florham Park's Schenck, Price, Smith & King. There is a long-standing tradition in New Jersey, he said, of having public agencies assist in the preservation of historic structures, including church buildings.

“This doesn't advance religion,” he said.

The Presbyterian Church in Morristown, which dates to 1733, is one of the churches slated to receive grant money. Its attorney, Kenneth Wilbur, also argued for Goodzeit's ruling to be upheld.

“This is for a completely neutral purpose,” said Wilbur, of the Florham Park office of Drinker Biddle & Reath. “It's for a secular purpose that benefits the public.”

In the school grants case, Assistant Attorney General Stuart Feinblatt asked the court to overturn the Appellate Division ruling.

The grants, he said, were not meant to promote religious teaching but rather to assist students in pursuing an education in their secular field of study, with the ultimate hope of persuading them to remain in New Jersey.

“The grants are designed to improve the educational experience as they move on through institutions of higher education,” said Feinblatt. “We're hoping to reduce outward migration.”

The grants, he said, are specifically written to prohibit that any of the funds be used to promote religious instruction.

Edward Barocas, the ACLU-NJ's legal director, told the court the purpose of the grants do not make any difference.

“There is a distinct prohibition on the use of taxpayer funds” to assist sectarian-based educational institutions, Barocas said.

In her ruling, Goodzeit said the Morris County freeholders used neutral criteria to award grants to both religious and secular buildings.

Goodzeit said an inflexible reading of the separation of church and state clause could be used to deny religious institutions from receiving police and fire services.

The freeholders had removed the case to federal court, but U.S. District Judge John Vazquez, sitting in Newark, remanded the lawsuit to the state courts in March 2016.

“Morris County desires to sustain historic landmarks, not just historic churches,” Goodzeit said in her ruling. “Just because the religious groups have put Morris County on notice that they intend to use their churches for worship does not mean that Morris County is somehow inextricably entangled with religion,” she said.

In the second case, a three-judge Appellate Division panel, relying on state Supreme Court precedent, said that the state Department of Education violated Article 1, Paragraph 3 of the constitution in 2013 when it awarded $10.6 million to Beth Medrash Govoha, a Jewish Yeshiva in Lakewood, and $645,323 to the Princeton Theological Seminary.

Appellate Division Judge Jack Sabatino, joined by Judges Allison Accurso and Karen Suter, said the Supreme Court barred the use of public funds to support religious institutions in its 1978 ruling in Resnick v. East Brunswick Board of Education.