Posts Tagged ‘charitable choice’
Fla. ballot initiative stirs school-voucher debate
Backers say proposed constitutional amendment has nothing to do with using tax dollars to pay for students to attend private schools, but opponents say it’s a veiled effort to get vouchers approved.
9th Circuit rejects challenge brought against rescue mission
Two people who stayed at shelters run by the Boise Rescue Mission had accused the mission of coercing residents into taking part in Christian-based services.
Obama makes changes to faith-based partnerships
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has signed off on what the White House says are significant improvements to federally funded partnerships between the government and religious-based and neighborhood organizations.
A religious watchdog group said it disapproved of some changes and said more should be done.
The group, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, welcomed [...]
Fla. justices asked to review state contracts with faith-based groups
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — An appeals court yesterday asked the state Supreme Court to decide whether state contracts with faith-based organizations to provide social services violate the Florida Constitution’s “no-aid” provision.
That clause prohibits direct or indirect state financial aid to churches and other religious organizations.
The sharply divided 15-member 1st District Court of Appeal certified the issue [...]
Group sues over exclusion from Mont. charitable program
BILLINGS, Mont. — A conservative Montana group has filed a lawsuit against the state contending its exclusion from a state employee charitable-donation program is discriminatory because it’s based on the group’s religious views.
The Laurel-based Montana Family Foundation filed the lawsuit April 15 in U.S. District Court in Billings.
The group describes itself as pro-family Christian and [...]
Fla. Legislature revives voucher amendment
Editor’s note: Both H. 1399 and S. 2550 died in committee when the legislative session adjourned on April 30.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A constitutional proposal designed to protect religious school vouchers and other state-funded faith-based programs from legal attack is being revived by the Florida Legislature a year and a half after the state Supreme Court [...]
Obama establishes new faith-based office
WASHINGTON — Declaring that “there is a force for good greater than government,” President Barack Obama yesterday established a White House office of faith-based initiatives with a broader mission than the one overseen by his Republican predecessor.
Obama said the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, which he created by executive order, would reach [...]
Suit over state payments to La. churches settled
NEW ORLEANS — The American Civil Liberties Union agreed yesterday to settle a lawsuit it had filed against the state of Louisiana over unrestricted government payments to churches.
The ACLU's Louisiana chapter said the settlement agreement barred the state from funneling taxpayer money without conditions to selected churches that offer nonreligious social services.
In October 2007, a [...]
N.H. program to expand state, faith-based partnerships
CONCORD, N.H. — The state’s health and human services commissioner is pushing to expand the role religious organizations play in providing social services.
Commissioner John Stephen’s Faith-Based Community Initiative is modeled after similar efforts by the Bush administration. Though the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services has long relied on religious groups to place [...]
Wis. charitable program faulted for excluding religious groups
MADISON, Wis. — A state-run program allowing employees to donate part of their paychecks to charity may not exclude religious charities on grounds that the groups use religion as a basis for employment or membership on their governing boards, a federal judge has ruled.
The Association of Faith-Based Organizations, a coalition of faith-based groups based in [...]
Government shouldn’t fund Christian marriage center, lawsuit says
TACOMA, Wash. — Thirteen residents of Western Washington have sued the
federal government and a Vancouver-based marriage counseling center, saying it
has used federal money to promote a fundamentalist Christian agenda.
The Northwest Marriage Institute received $97,750 last year from the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services under the Bush administration’s
initiatives to support faith-based organizations, according to the
lawsuit, [...]
High court won’t hear AmeriCorps case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court today let stand a lower court ruling that
allows use of federal funds in placing young teachers in religious schools.
Lawyers for the American Jewish Congress had alleged that the federal
AmeriCorps grant program crossed the line between church and state by paying
$4,725 in financial aid to teachers in some of the nation's [...]
D.C. Circuit: AmeriCorps can fund teachers at religious schools
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court yesterday endorsed the use of federal AmeriCorps money to place young teachers in religious schools, reversing a lower court judge who had said the program crossed the constitutional line separating church and state.
The government is not promoting religion, and AmeriCorps creates no incentives for participants to teach religion, ruled [...]
U.S. gave $1.17 billion to faith-based groups in 2003
WASHINGTON — The government gave more than $1 billion in 2003 to organizations it considers “faith-based,” with some going to programs where prayer and spiritual guidance are central and some to organizations that do not consider themselves religious at all.
Many of these groups have entirely secular missions and some organizations were surprised to find their [...]
AmeriCorps sponsor must stop funding Catholic programs
WASHINGTON — The federal agency that oversees AmeriCorps must stop financing programs that place volunteers in Catholic schools, a judge has ruled, saying it unconstitutionally crosses the line between church and state.
U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler sided with the American Jewish Congress, which argued that federal money was being used improperly to pay for teaching [...]
The First Amendment Center is an educational organization and cannot provide legal advice.
Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, D.C. Previously, Paulson served as the editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today.
Gene Policinski, senior vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center and president and chief operating officer of the Diversity Institute, is a veteran journalist whose career has included work in newspapers, radio, television and online.
John Seigenthaler founded the First Amendment Center in 1991 with the mission of creating national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment rights and values.
Dr. Charles C. Haynes is director of the Religious Freedom Education Project at the Newseum. He writes and speaks extensively on religious liberty and religion in American public life.
David L. Hudson Jr. is an expert in First Amendment issues who writes for firstamendmentcenter.org and for other publications. Hudson teaches law and was a scholar at the First Amendment Center.
Tiffany Villager is director/First Amendment studies at the First Amendment Center, which she joined in 1993. She also served as the center’s research manager and research coordinator, and developed the center’s library.
