Michael Kitch: Constitution does expressly forbid state from sanctioning one denomination above others

To The Daily Sun,

Rep. Gregg Hough is certainly correct to question how widely American citizens understand the Constitution that governs them. However, his command of English grammar, witnessed by his most recent letter in The Laconia Daily Sun, raises doubts about his capacity to comprehend that document.

For example, he asserts that “separation of church and state,” which he calls “a catchy sound bite,” has no place in the Constitution. In fact, the First Amendment begins “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” In other words, the Constitution expressly forbids the state from using its authority to sanction one religious denomination to the exclusion of all others as well as requires the state to allow citizens to worship — or not — as they wish.

Hough also writes “Enforcement of those laws are for the executive branch, the president.” Perhaps in Magaland, but in the real world there is the Department of Justice, as a number of Hough’s fellow Republican constitutional scholars may soon discover.

Michael Kitch

Penacook