About this item
Twenty years ago, in the middle of the night and on the last day of the legislative session, the New York State Legislature created a publicly funded school district to cater to the interests of a religious sect called the Satmar, an insular group of Hasidic Jews that objects to, among other things, female school bus drivers. The rapidly growing sect had bought land in rural Upstate New York, populated it solely with members of its faction, and created a village called Kiryas Joel that exerted extraordinary political pressure over both political parties. Marking the first time in American history that a governmental unit was established for a religious group, the legislature's action prompted years of litigation that eventually went to the US Supreme Court.
About the Author
Louis Grumet is the coauthor of "The Curious Case of Kiryas Joel" with John Caher. He was the plaintiff in the litigation that caused the United State Supreme Court to declare the first school district in American history to be created for a religious group to be a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution. At that time, he was the executive director for he New York State School Boards Association. Prior to that, he served at Assistant Commissioner of the New York State Education Department, and as special assistant to New York Secretary of State Mario Cuomo. Since that time, he also served as executive director for the New York State Society of CPA's. He is now retired.Mr. Grumet earned an JD from New York University Law School, and MPA from the University of Pittsburgh, and a BA from the Elliott School at George Washington University.He lives in New York with his wife Barbara. They have two daughters and three granddaughters.
