N.C. Supreme Court: Religious Institutions Can Have Police
RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled Nov. 10 that the powers of campus police officers at religiously-affiliated institutions did not violate the Constitutional separation of church and state.
The ruling overturned a lower court’s decision that delegating police power to a religious institution constitutes “excessive entanglement” of government and religion, The Chronicle of High Education reports. After the ruling of the lower court, North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities lobbied successfully for the Campus Police Act, which allows that the state’s attorney general to authorize campus police departments at religiously-affiliated campuses.
The recent ruling comes after Julie Anne Yencer was arrested by a Davidson police officer for drunk driving. Yencer pleaded guilty but asked for the charges to be dismissed because the Campus Police Act was unconstitutional.
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