State/Church Bulletin

Church Grants Challenged

The ACLU and its Louisiana chapter filed a federal lawsuit in August challenging taxpayer-financed government grants to two churches.

Gifts of $100,000 to the Stonewall Baptist Church in Bossier City and $20,000 to Shreveport Christian Church are among 14 appropriations state lawmakers put in the state operating budget, signed into law in July.

The lawsuit charges that earmarking grants for churches in the state budget is unconstitutional, since the First Amendment bars the government from making direct, unrestricted payments to churches. The budget calls for no oversight on how money is spent.

Jesus Showdown

The ACLU in Louisiana filed a lawsuit in late July suing Judge Jim Lamz of Slidell for refusing to remove a portrait of Jesus Christ, which hangs above the words, "To know peace, obey these laws," in the courthouse lobby.

Defendants include the judge and the mayor, who called the ACLU "America's Taliban." The plaintiff is a "John Doe" who recently conducted business in the courthouse. The town is represented by the Christian-based Alliance Defense Fund.

Vitter Loses Moral High Ground

Senator David Vitter, R-La., first ran for the U.S. House as a "clean-as-a-whistle" family man, seeking the seat once filled by House Speaker Robert Livingston--who was felled on adultery revelations.

In early July, Vitter admitted to a "very serious sin in my past," after it was disclosed that his phone number was on a list belonging to Deborah Jane Palfrey ("the D.C. Madam").

Vitter, an archfoe of abortion, wrote the Times-Picayune last year: "I'm a conservative who opposes radically redefining marriage, the most important social institution in human history." He was also Southern campaign chair for presidential contender Rudolph W. Giuliani.

New Orleans madam Jeanette Maier told WDSU-TV that Vitter was one of her clients in the 1990s, and was "one of the nicest and most honorable men I've ever met."

Specter Probes Supremes?

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., announced in late July he plans to review Senate testimony of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel A. Alito, to examine whether their reversal of several longstanding opinions conflicts with confirmation promises.

Both vowed to respect legal precedents, yet both sought to overturn precedent on abortion (and matters involved in Hein v. FFRF), among about eight such cases this term.

Specter said the idea for a review came from Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who in June suggested Roberts and the conservative majority were flouting stare decisis--the legal doctrine that, for the sake of stability, courts should not disturb settled law.

Duke University law professor Erwin Chemerinsky told The Politico that both justices "either explicitly or implicitly overruled precedent," and that the "confirmation hearings were a sham."

Board Refuses Censorship

The Palm Beach County School Board refused to pull 80 books regarding atheism, abortion and homosexuality from high-school library shelves in July. A local mother vows not to give up on her crusade, and to start a church-to-church petition:

"They're teaching kids the Big Bang. They're teaching kids lies. The world was created 6,000 years ago. In my son's elementary school book, it says the world was created several million years ago."

Appeal Court Splits on Rental

New York City's policy barring churches from holding worship services in public schools may be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court, following a July split decision by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. A Bronx congregation, Bronx Household of Faith, brought the challenge.

One judge sided with the church, a second sided with the board of education, and a third ruled the case not ready for review. The church may continue to use the school building, pending appeal.

In 2001, the Supreme Court ruled that schools which allow use of their campus after hours by secular groups cannot bar religious groups from renting facilities. But the high court seemed to draw a distinction between religiously-oriented lessons--in permitting the Good News Club to rent classrooms to proselytize children right after school adjourns--and outright worship.

The Bronx Household of Faith has met in a public school since 2002. A federal injunction bars the city from enforcing its antiworship rule pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

"No child should feel alienated from his or her school for any reason," said attorney Jane Gordon, representing the city. "And that's what's happening." The Alliance Defense Fund is representing the congregation.

Good Reasons to Oppose Vouchers

Discrimination at religious schools includes:

An unmarried, pregnant teacher at a Queens parochial school, who was fired for violating "Catholic morality." Michelle McCuskter, 26, a pre-K teacher at St. Rose of Lima, filed a federal discrimination complaint against the Diocese of Brooklyn.

Two 16-year-old girls, who were expelled from a private Lutheran high school in Riverside, Calif., under suspicion of "being lesbians." They filed a lawsuit seeking damages and re-enrollment. The principal grilled the girls in his office about their sexuality. The school is owned by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the nation's third-largest Lutheran church body.