August 19, 2002

Voucher case frees prisons
___MADISON, Wis. (ABP)--Relying on a recent Supreme Court ruling that state-funded scholarships to religious schools don't necessarily violate the Constitution, a federal judge in Wisconsin has ruled that a faith-based drug-treatment program can continue to receive tax dollars in the form of vouchers to prisoners.
___U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb earlier ruled that direct funding by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections of a faith-based treatment program called Faith Works violated the First Amendment's ban on establishment of religion. Crabb left open in her January ruling, however, a second question of whether indirect funding also violates the Constitution.
___Since then, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that school voucher programs are allowed as long as parents have a genuine choice.
___In a second ruling on the Wisconsin case July 29, Crabb said state funding of the Faith Works program operates on a similar principle, because it is tied to individual inmates who choose between the faith-based and secular programs.
___In her opinion, Crabb said the Establishment Clause is designed in part to "prevent the government from placing its imprimatur on religion." Recent court rulings, however, have recognized that individuals can "nullify any appearance of government endorsement" in benefiting from programs that allow "genuine and independent choices."

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