Stupak changes church school land swap

U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak

U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak has reconsidered earlier legislation that would have given several acres of Coast Guard property in Cheboygan to a Christian school free of charge after constitutional law scholars pointed out that the land transfer would violate the First Amendment separation between church and state.

After Michigan Messenger reported on this issue in August, Americans United for Separation of Church and State contacted Stupak’s office and informed them that the legislation as written was unconstitutional.

Last week, Stupak, a Democrat from Menominee, wrote to the group and told them that he was changing the bill to require that the property be sold to the school at fair market value as required by law.

The land transfer is now submitted as Section 1325 of HR 3619, the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act, which is the budget appropriation for the Coast Guard for 2010. Where the previous legislation required that the land be transferred “without consideration,” the language now reads:

(a) Conveyance Authorized- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commandant of the Coast Guard is authorized to convey, at fair market value, all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to a parcel of real property, consisting of approximately 3 acres, more or less, that is under the administrative control of the Coast Guard and located at 900 S. Western Avenue in Cheboygan, Michigan.

(b) Right of First Refusal- The Cornerstone Christian Academy, located in Cheboygan, MI, shall have the right of first refusal to purchase, at fair market value, all or a portion of the real property described in subsection (a).

Americans United is pleased with this development but argues that giving the Christian school a right of first refusal may still have some constitutional problems. In a letter to Stupak (PDF), AU executive director Barry Lynn praised the legislator for changing the terms of the transfer but reiterated that the constitutional problems are not fully addressed by the provision in H.R. 3619 because it grants the right of first refusal to the School.”

But given that the school already occupies the property and they built the building at their own expense, it seems entirely reasonable that they have the first opportunity to purchase the property as long as it is done at fair market value rather than a giveaway of public property.