The California Constitution is “even more protective of the separation of church and state than the federal,” says Richard Katskee, legal director of Americans United, which has called on the regents to reject any affiliation agreement that would require UC to abide with the ERDs in any way. The California Constitution specifically prohibits any public entity in the state from ever making any payment from public funds “to support or sustain any school, college, university, hospital, or other institution controlled by any religious creed, church, or sectarian denomination whatever.” State courts have ruled that the clause covers even contracts for secular purposes in which a religious entity receives “a financial benefit from the government.”

Source: Los Angeles Times May 03, 2019 13:30 UTC