HIGH COURT GETS RELIGION

In a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that by refusing to subsidize a student publication offering Christian viewpoints, University of Virginia officials violated free-speech rights and misconstrued the constitutional separation of church and state. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority that paying for the publication's printing cost would provide only "incidental" benefit to religion. But Justice David Souter countered that "the Court today, for the first time, approves direct funding of core religious activities by an arm of the state."