Supreme Court's Voucher Showdown Draws Hundreds To Witness History

By Karla Scoon Reid

Washington

Representatives from both the pro-voucher and anti-voucher camps forged a bipartisan coalition here about 14 hours before the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Cleveland tuition-aid case last week.

The accord didn't address the separation of church and state or the use of public money for religious school tuition. But it did establish a humane system of bathroom breaks and food runs for those gathered in line Feb. 19 at the base of the Supreme Court's steps to secure a seat for the arguments the following morning.

"We may have been opponents on vouchers, ... but we had a great time in our common misery—the cold," said Michael A. Fox, a former Ohio state legislator who sponsored the state's 1995 voucher law. He camped out for a seat in the court with pillows and blankets borrowed from...