Source: American Civil Liberties Union
http://www.aclu.org/ReligiousLiberty/ReligiousLiberty.cfm?ID=14488&c=37
On December 2, 2003 American Civil Liberties Union reported, "The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today in Locke v. Davey, which raises the question of whether the federal constitution compels a state to provide scholarship funds for clergy training, in violation of its own constitution. The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, said a ruling requiring such financial support would not be consistent with existing law and would improperly entangle government with religion. 'Public funding for ministerial training raises special and long-held concerns about government involvement with religion,' said ACLU Legal Director Steven R. Shapiro. 'In addition, in a religiously diverse society taxpayer money should not be used in a manner that benefits only some religions.' In today’s case, Joshua Davey is appealing the denial of a Washington State 'Promise Scholarship' that he had planned to use to train for an evangelical ministry."