Texas Constitution:Article I, Section 7: Difference between revisions

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Sections 4 through 7 of Article I, including the recently adopted Section [[Texas Constitution:Article I, Section 6-a|6-a]], concern religion.
Sections 4 through 7 of Article I, including the recently adopted Section [[Texas Constitution:Article I, Section 6-a|6-a]], concern religion.


Note the partial overlap of this section with Article VII, Section [[Texas Constitution:Article VII, Section 5|5]], which prohibits use of the permanent or available school fund to support sectarian schools.
Note the partial overlap of this section with Article VII, Section [[Texas Constitution:Article VII, Section 5|5]], which expressly prohibits use of the permanent or available school fund to support sectarian schools.


The Texas Supreme Court has never addressed this section, which prohibits the state from using either its money or property "for the benefit of" a religious group.
The Texas Supreme Court has never addressed this section, which prohibits the state from using either its money or property "for the benefit of" a religious group.

Revision as of 10:19, July 19, 2023

Adopted February 15, 1876:

No money shall be appropriated, or drawn from the Treasury for the benefit of any sect, or religious society, theological or religious seminary; nor shall property belonging to the State be appropriated for any such purposes.

Editor Comments

Sections 4 through 7 of Article I, including the recently adopted Section 6-a, concern religion.

Note the partial overlap of this section with Article VII, Section 5, which expressly prohibits use of the permanent or available school fund to support sectarian schools.

The Texas Supreme Court has never addressed this section, which prohibits the state from using either its money or property "for the benefit of" a religious group.

However, the Texas Attorney General, in Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. H-66 (1973), opined at length on the constitutionality of the Tuition Equalization Grant Program.


Texas’s Blaine Amendments—article I, section 7, and article VII, subsection 5(c) of the Texas Constitution—violate the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Accordingly, any law, action, or policy implemented in accordance with their prohibitions would be unconstitutional.

Attorney Steve Smith

Recent Decisions

None.

Historic Decisions

None.

Library Resources

Online Resources