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The first federal court ruling on a charitable choice case went against government funding of religion-based social service programs. But more court fights lie ahead.

On January 8, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled in the case of Freedom from Religion Foundation vs. McCallum. The judge said the state violated the separation of church and state when it appropriated more than $800,000 to Faith Works, a drug treatment program in Milwaukee. Crabb said the state had crossed the line by providing “unrestricted, direct funding of an organization that engages in religious indoctrination.”

Faith Works describes its program as “inherently Christian,” and “a holistic, faith-based approach to bring healing to mind, body, heart and soul.” Wisconsin established the program in 1999 as a demonstration project for government funding of religion-based social service agencies. Its first funds came from the office of former governor Tommy Thompson, now President Bush’s secretary of Health and Human Services. His successor, Scott McCallum, says the state will appeal.

George W. Bush visited Faith Works in July 2000 as a presidential candidate. He promised hundreds of millions of federal aid dollars for similar programs as part of his faith-based service initiative. But Congress has been slow to pass enabling legislation.

Crabb’s action was only one of “many, many such decisions” to come, says Annie Laurie Gaylor, cofounder of the Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation. She expressed confidence that an appeals court will uphold the decision.

Other opponents of church-state aid were likewise jubilant. Americans United for Separation of Church and State hailed Crabb’s ruling as “a major blow” to the Bush plan. “This is a tremendous victory for individual freedom,” said the group’s director, Barry Lynn.

But some advocates of faith-based initiatives were not dismayed. Stephen Lazarus of the Center for Public Justice said the ruling “by no means slams the door on the President’s faith-based and community initiatives.” Instead, he said, it merely showed that government agencies will have to be careful in how they approach such funding. “They have to be very careful to follow the guidelines that charitable choice lays down in federal law.”

For instance, Faith Works could still receive government funding through state vouchers given to addicts to pay for treatment, if they voluntarily select its program. Or they can segregate their religious and social service activities. But in this case, Crabb ruled that “religion is so integral to the Faith Works program that it is not possible to isolate it from the program as a whole.”

The lawsuit also challenged the Wisconsin Department of Corrections’ use of its funds to send offenders to a Faith Works prerelease halfway house. Crabb did not rule on this challenge, and set it for a separate trial.

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Faith Works is an employment-focused, addiction recovery program that emphasizes personal and economic well being.

Coverage of the Faith Works decision includes:

Judge in Wisconsin Voids a Religion-Based Initiative — The New York Times (Jan. 10, 2002)

Faith ruling gives both sides hope — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Jan. 9, 2002)

Judge Nixes Faith-Based Funding — Associated Press (Jan. 8, 2002)

Faith-based agency loses in ruling — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Jan. 8, 2002)

A recent Christianity Today Web-only story looked at the effect that the Faith Works decision, and other factors, will have on the “The State of the Faith-Based Initiative.”

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March 11 2002, Vol. 46, No. 3