Questions Raised About $650K Florida Security Grant To Jewish Schools
The teen arrested for JCC bomb threats covers his face at a hearing. Image by Reuters
By Josh Nathan-Kazis May 16, 2017
Florida’s new state budget includes a $650,000 grant for security at Jewish schools — a line item that’s raising questions among First Amendment advocates, the Miami Herald reports.
The item was included in this year’s budget in response to the bomb threats to Jewish institutions that spread fear across the country. Those bomb threats were later found to be hoaxes, perpetrated by a young Jewish man from his apartment in southern Israel.
According to the Herald, the funding would support security needs at private Jewish schools across the state. Critics say it could be unconstitutional.
“The fact that the funding singles out one religion raises serious concerns about unconstitutional discrimination, whether intentional or not,” ACLU of Florida legislative counsel Kara Gross told the Herald.
Florida’s governor, Rick Scott, has yet to sign the budget.
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at nathankazis@forward.com or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
