Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

9-24-2008

SSRN Discipline

*Humanities - Forthcoming Areas; Religious Studies Research Network; LSN Subject Matter eJournals; Tax Law & Policy eJournals; Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence & Legal Philosophy eJournals; Legal Scholarship Network; PRN Subject Matter eJournals; Philosophy Research Network; Law School Research Papers - Legal Studies; Law & Society eJournals; Law & Society: Public Law eJournals; Law School Research Papers - Public Law & Legal Theory; Humanities Network

Abstract

State and local tax policy is one of the most important areas of public policy affecting the lives of the most powerless and vulnerable segments of the population children from low income families Focusing on the funding of primary and secondary education especially in high poverty school districts and the scheme for allocating the tax burden this article empirically proves that all fifty states have unjust state and local tax policy with thirtyone states inflicting an extreme level of injustice on poor children and their families This article argues that the people in most states as well as their political leaders are compelled to reform state and local tax policy because they claim to practice Christianity or Judaism and in addition to being unjust under secularbased ethical models their state and local tax policy also violates the moral principles of JudeoChristian ethics This article also argues that the moral context of a faithbased appeal offers the best chance to inspire people to support tax policy requiring greater levels of sacrifice from wealthier Americans a group that must be part of the reform effort in order to change the state and local tax picture from a vast sea of injustice to a tool of justice protecting our most vulnerable and powerless citizens

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