June 24, 2009
Church-State Watchdog Group Asks U.S. Department Of Justice To Cut Off
Americans United for Separation of Church and State today asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to terminate or investigate nine federal grants awarded to faith-based groups that proselytize and that discriminate in hiring.
In the 2008 fiscal year, Congress approved earmarks that directed the U.S. Department of Justice to award grants to these religious organizations. The Department of Justice, under the Bush administration, approved the constitutionally dubious funding without conducting anything more than a cursory review.
Now Americans United, in a letter to Holder, has asked for that Bush-era decision to be reversed.
“In providing these grants, the U.S. Department of Justice is unconstitutionally aiding religion,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United’s executive director. “There’s no reason why organizations that evangelize or that discriminate in hiring on religious grounds should ever receive a penny from the government, let alone millions of dollars.”
Added AU Senior Litigation Counsel Alex J. Luchenitser, “The Bush administration approved these grants, paying no heed to their grave constitutional defects. I hope that the Obama administration discontinues this unlawful funding of religion and reviews future proposed grants to faith-based institutions much more carefully....”
more:
http://www.au.org/media/press-releases/archives/2009/06/au-urges-attorney-general-to.html