U.S. Court of Appeals -Prison Ministries Unconstitutional
Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 9:59 pm
Maybe this belongs under religion but it's politics to me.
Appeals court finds prison ministries program unconstitutional
By DAVID PITT
Associated Press Writer
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A federal appeals court said Monday that the state of Iowa cannot fund an evangelical Christian prison ministry program because it advanced or endorsed religion and therefore violated the U.S. Constitution's separation of church and state clause.
The head of the group that filed the lawsuit leading to the decision argued that it could end public funding of such programs by religious groups.
.........
Americans United For Separation of Church and State, a Washington advocacy group, brought the lawsuit challenging the program. Executive director Barry Lynn said the ruling will have major implication for the Bush administration's policies of intermingling private faith-based programs and government.
"This is an enormously significant case on the whole question of how government can, or in this case, cannot aid religious ministries," Lynn said. "I think this has implications far broader than a prison in a single state because the basic framework of this decision, the way they reached the conclusion is that government can't pay for these religious social services nor can they turn over functions of government essentially to religious operations."
link
Edited by Savonarola 20071203 2123: LaWood still won't link properly
Appeals court finds prison ministries program unconstitutional
By DAVID PITT
Associated Press Writer
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A federal appeals court said Monday that the state of Iowa cannot fund an evangelical Christian prison ministry program because it advanced or endorsed religion and therefore violated the U.S. Constitution's separation of church and state clause.
The head of the group that filed the lawsuit leading to the decision argued that it could end public funding of such programs by religious groups.
.........
Americans United For Separation of Church and State, a Washington advocacy group, brought the lawsuit challenging the program. Executive director Barry Lynn said the ruling will have major implication for the Bush administration's policies of intermingling private faith-based programs and government.
"This is an enormously significant case on the whole question of how government can, or in this case, cannot aid religious ministries," Lynn said. "I think this has implications far broader than a prison in a single state because the basic framework of this decision, the way they reached the conclusion is that government can't pay for these religious social services nor can they turn over functions of government essentially to religious operations."
link
Edited by Savonarola 20071203 2123: LaWood still won't link properly