Free exercise of a student and religious school in a voucher program of U.S. : implications to a student in a religiously affiliated, secondary school in Korea

Abstract

[Abstract]

My article examines and provides an explanation to the conflict of free exercise of a student in a private, religiously affiliated school and free exercise of a religious organization, in particular, a secondary school in the context of American jurisprudence of constitutional law and religion, so as to give implications to current controversy of freedom of religion of the student in a religious, secondary school. In the case of free exercise and non-establishment of religion, which seems to be in an inevitable conflict with each other should be interpreted in a way to reconcile two important constitutional freedom and guarantee, rather than sacrificing one for the other. In balancing free exercise with non-establishment of religion, there is a window – such as a voucher program in Zelman, government scholarship in Davey or a government’s non-discrimination policy through which the state can intrude in the private school without violating non-establishment clause. This article performs a comparative study by introducing the case of Kang in Korea which was an important initiative to amend the Private School Act of Korea, compared to the cases of religion clauses in the U.S. Supreme Court. In particular, regarding the issues of free exercise of the student in a religious school and the one of a relig