Supreme Court Agrees to Hear ‘Faith-Based’ Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case to determine if private citizens have the right to sue certain programs run through the White House’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, reports The New York Times.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, in Wisconsin, had sued the Bush administration to force it to stop holding workshops that teach religious groups how to apply for federal grants. The charity argues that such programs violate the separation of church and state.

Initially, a lower court ruled that the Wisconsin charity had no standing to sue, since taxpayers generally cannot challenge spending on federal programs. However, in the past the Supreme Court has cited religious programs as an exception, and recently the U.S. District Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s ruling, arguing that the charity did have the right to sue.

The Bush administration appealed to the Supreme Court, which will hear the case in February.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)