The U.S. Supreme Court case Agostini v. Felton (1996) revisited the issue of whether public school teachers could provide remedial education services in parochial schools, a matter previously addressed in Aguilar v. Felton (1985). In the earlier ruling, it was determined that sending public school teachers into religious schools for this purpose violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment due to excessive entanglement between church and state. However, in 1996's Agostini v. Felton decision, this precedent was overruled by a 5-4 majority vote on grounds that there had been significant legal and factual changes since Aguilar’s judgment; particularly regarding how aid programs were perceived as not advancing religion even if they offered assistance within religiously affiliated institutions. The court held that so long as government-provided aid is offered on a neutral basis and does not advance or inhibit religion itself, it does not breach constitutional boundaries.

In the dissenting opinion for Agostini v. Felton, Justice Souter argued that there was no compelling reason to overturn previous rulings which had found public school teachers providing remedial education in parochial schools to be a violation of the Establishment Clause. He contended that such programs could lead to excessive entanglement between church and state as they required extensive oversight by public authorities within religious institutions. Furthermore, he expressed concern about potential indoctrination or promotion of religion through these publicly funded services provided in a religious environment. The majority's reliance on new empirical evidence suggesting no risk of indoctrination was criticized by Souter who believed it should not have been considered due to its introduction at an inappropriate stage in litigation. Lastly, he warned against casually overruling precedents without adequate justification as it undermines legal stability and continuity.