BERKOWITZ -- Bush's faith-based initiative listing but not sunk

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From: WKBBronx@aol.com
Date: Friday, June 8, 2007 1:58 pm
Subject: BERKOWITZ -- Bush's faith-based initiative listing but not sunk
To: AuntVarn@aol.com


>
>
> _http://www.bendweekly.com/Opinion/6914.html_
> (http://www.bendweekly.com/Opinion/6914.html)
> Jun 08,2007 -- The Bend Weekly
> Bush's faith-based initiative listing but not sunk
> by _Bill Berkowitz_
> (http://www.bendweekly.com/author/Bill_Berkowitz.html)
> In early April, officials in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, agreed
> to bar
> any public funding of religious activities as part of a settlement
> in a lawsuit
> challenging a local "faith-based" ministry for prisoners.
>
> The lawsuit, filed in 2005 by Americans United for Separation of
> Church and
> State, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Pennsylvania,
> and the
> national law firm of Arnold & Porter LLP, argued that Bradford
> County and other
> governmental agencies were unconstitutionally funding The Firm
> Foundation, a
> religion-based rehabilitation program active in the Bradford County
> jail.
> jail.
>
> In mid-February, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard
> arguments in
> the "Americans United v. Prison Fellowship Ministry" case at the
> federal
> courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri. .
>
> According to an Americans United press release, the organization,
> representing a group of inmates, inmates' family members and
> taxpayers, urged the
> appellate panel to affirm the June 2006 ruling by Judge Robert W.
> Pratt that the
> InnerChange Freedom Initiative at Newton Correctional Facility in
> Iowa is
> unconstitutional and violates the separation of church and state. In
> his ruling,
> Judge Pratt "found that the publicly funded religious program at
> Newton
> transgresses the First Amendment ban on government support for
> religion." is
> unconstitutional and violates the separation of church and state. In
> his ruling,
> Judge Pratt "found that the publicly funded religious program at
> Newton
> transgresses the First Amendment ban on government support for
> religion."
>
> "No American should be pressured by the government to conform to any
>
> particular religious viewpoint," said the executive director of
> Americans United,
> the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, an ordained minister in the United Church of
> Christ.
>
> "Inmates should have access to effective rehabilitation programs
> that
> prepare them for life outside prison, no matter what religion they
> subscribe to.
> This case has major implications for the Bush 'faith-based'
> initiative.
> Programs that are pervaded with religion should not get public
> funds," he said.
>
> Although neither the Bradford agreement nor the Iowa case will
> likely reach
> the U.S. Supreme Court soon, sometime before its upcoming summer
> recess, the
> Court will hand down a ruling that could significantly shape the
> future of
> President George W. Bush's faith-based initiative. The much
> trumpeted program,
> intended by Team Bush to be the centrepiece of his domestic policy
> agenda,
> has been taking its fair share of political and legal hits during
> the past few
> years. case will likely reach the U.S. Supreme Court soon, sometime
> before
> its upcoming summer recess, the Court will hand down a ruling that
> could
> significantly shape the future of President George W. Bush's
> faith-based
> initiative. The much trumpeted program, intended by Team Bush to be
> the centrepiece of
> his domestic policy agenda, has been taking its fair share of
> political and
> legal hits during the past few years.
> http://www.bendweekly.com/Opinion/6914.html_ [br />> (http://www.bendweekly.com/Opinion/6914.html) ]