New Hampshire

AMENDMENT LANGUAGE

State Constitutional Provision

N.H. Const. art. 83: ". . . no money raised by taxation shall ever be granted or applied for the use of the schools or institutions of any religious sect or denomination." (Included as result of amendment passed in 1877)

RELEVANT CASES

State Courts

· Opinion of Justices, 108 N.H. 268 (1967) (New Hampshire Supreme Court decided that statute violated the Establishment Clause where it provided for payment to parochial and certain private schools of a proportionate share of proceeds from the conduct of sweepstakes' races).

· Opinion of Justices, 99 N.H. 519 (1955) (New Hampshire Supreme Court decided that an act to provide state aid for nursing education which granted all hospitals aid regardless of any religious denomination did not violate the New Hampshire constitutional provision prohibiting public support of sectarian schools s because no particular sectarian hospital was to be aided).

Warde v. Manchester, 56 N.H. 508 (1876) (Lands and buildings used exclusively for the purposes of a Catholic academy or seminary for the instruction of females, for dormitories, and convenient out-buildings in connection therewith, are exempted from taxation by the state provisions).

Hale v. Everett, 53 N.H. 9 (1868).

The Dublin Case, 38 N.H. 459 (1859).

REPEAL EFFORTS

See the Heritage Foundation website for a list of state contacts.