An update from the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy, an independent research
project of the Rockefeller Institute of Government. The public policy research arm of the State
University of New York.

New! Challenge to Chaplaincy Program Awaits Pending
Supreme Court Decision

A legal challenge to chaplaincy programs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has been put on hold,
pending a Supreme Court decision in another case, which will clarify when citizens can sue the government
over alleged breaches of the boundary separating church and state. Legal experts said the situation is an
example of just how far-reaching the forthcoming Supreme Court decision in Hein v. Freedom From
Religion Foundation, on an issue known as “taxpayer standing,” could be in cases involving the First
Amendment’s Establishment Clause. That’s the phrase in the Constitution that bars government from
activity promoting religion.

Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based group opposed to the government endorsement of
religion, on April 2 filed an appeal of a January federal court ruling that found the massive VA medical
system properly administers spiritual care to patients through its chaplains. But the government has not yet
responded to FFRF’s latest charges before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Instead, its attorneys
asked the appeals court to suspend the schedule for filing briefs in the lawsuit until the U.S. Supreme Court
issues a decision in Hein v. FFRF on whether ordinary citizens have the right to sue – something lawyers
call “taxpayer standing” – in Establishment Clause cases. On April 23, the Seventh Circuit granted the
government’s request to await a decision from the Supreme Court on the taxpayer standing issue.

Click here to read more by Roundtable Correspondent Claire Hughes.

This story involves two legal cases that the Roundtable has been tracking since they were originally filed.
The first is FFRF’s challenge of the VA’s chaplaincy programs, a case the Roundtable’s legal experts have
found significant in part because the challenge could affect similar programs in all publicly funded health
care institutions. The case, FFRF v. Nicholson, is analyzed in the 2006 State of the Law Report by
Roundtable Legal Research Co-directors Ira C. Lupu and Robert W. Tuttle and was discussed at the
Roundtable’s annual conference in December.

Click here for the State of the Law report. Discussion of FFRF v. Nicholson begins on page 61.

Click here for a transcript from the Roundtable’s 2006 annual conference, and go to page 27.

The other case is Hein v. FFRF which, as noted above, could have profound implications on citizens’
ability to challenge government action that allegedly violates the Establishment Clause. The Roundtable
has compiled a Resource Page on the case, which includes original legal analyses, articles and a transcript
of oral arguments heard before the Supreme Court in February.

Click here for the Roundtable’s Resource Page on Hein v. FFRF.

New! Welfare Down But Poverty and Needs Up, Faith and Civic
Leaders Warn Congress

Requests from the poor, particularly for emergency services, have grown faster than resources in the last
several years and are straining Catholic Charities USA, the social service agency’s president told Congress
last week. Larry Snyder, president of one of the nation’s largest private networks of 1,500 social service
agencies serving 7.4 million people annually, said the organization is receiving increased requests from
working families, single parents and grandparents. Demand is growing in all types of communities, and
more people are seeking basic services such as housing, shelter and food, Snyder said.

Snyder was one of several faith and civic leaders to speak during a hearing to consider proposals for
reducing poverty, held by the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support of the House
Committee on Ways and Means. The House Committee chairman, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), has
suggested that Congress set a goal to reduce poverty by half in the next 10 years. Last week’s hearing
highlighted different approaches to achieve that goal. Witnesses endorsed a list of solutions for
congressional consideration including more and better early childhood and college education, improving
and expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit that aids low-income workers, extending benefits and job
training for single men, offering childcare tax credits, and increasing the minimum wage.

Click here to read more by Roundtable Washington Correspondent Anne Farris.

New! An Interview with John Podesta of the Center for American Progress

John Podesta is the president and chief executive officer of the Center for American Progress, a liberal
think tank based in Washington, D.C. The center hosts the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative to focus
on the moral, ethical and spiritual values of social policy issues. The Center issued a report on April 25
proposing a national strategy to cut poverty in America in half over the next decade, which includes a role
for faith-based organizations.

Click here to read the interview.

New! College that Hires Christians Only to be Included on State Job Listing

A Christian College that requires employees to declare their commitment to Jesus Christ can be included on
a state-operated job listing service sponsored by the federal government, according to the terms of a legal
settlement reached April 26. Geneva College and the Association of Faith-Based Organizations had sued
the U.S. Department of Labor and several Pennsylvania officials over the school’s exclusion from a job
listing posted on the Internet. According to its legal complaint, Geneva College was not included in the
service because the listing was funded through the federal Workforce Investment Act. Recipients of WIA
funding are not allowed to discriminate in hiring. But the settlement states that Geneva College may be
included in the listing, because the school does not actually receive WIA funds.

Because the case was settled on the technical issue of Geneva College not being a WIA recipient, it failed
to answer the larger questions it posed about the rights of faith-based organizations that hire employees
based on their religion to access government benefits.

Click here to read more by Roundtable Correspondent Claire Hughes.

Click here for the Roundtable’s previously published legal analysis of the case.

Click here for the Roundtable’s Resource Page on Hiring Rights of Religious Organizations.

Weekly Digest of Federal Grants with Faith-Based and Community
Organization Eligibility

The grant opportunities this week for community and faith-based organizations are through programs
administered by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Justice, Labor, the
Small Business Administration, and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Potential applicants should be aware that some grant programs require specific technical expertise, or
experience with particular foreign countries.

Click here for the grant digest, compiled by Roundtable Correspondent Allison Sarnoff
with Lisa Montiel.

Roundtable Digest of Current Faith-Based News Stories

Christian college can use state's job listing service
The Associated Press State & Local Wire

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6379

Synagogues, mosques facing threats offered security grants
The Washington Times (Washington, DC)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6372

Faith-based group wants changes to Denali Kid Care: Anchorage Faith and Action Congregation
Together wants lawmakers to change the rules on Denali Kid Care to include more impoverished children
KTUU-TV (Alaska)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6373

THE BREAD OF LIFE; A church's mobile ministry feeds the city's
hopes as it feeds lunch to those working on its recovery
Times-Picayune (Louisiana)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6375

County renews re-entry efforts; Conference focuses on giving ex-offenders
the tools they need to stay out of prison.
Lancaster New Era (Pennsylvania)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6376

Church to launch activity center
Buffalo News (New York)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6377

Faith-based group helps people cope with dying
Sarasota Herald-Tribune (Florida)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6378

Helping prison inmates return to society
Philadelphia Inquirer (Pennsylvania)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6384

County leaders propose summer work program to curb violence
Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6385

Faith-Based Groups Fight for Head Start Freedoms: U.S. House
votes next week, may add pro-faith amendment
Citizenlink

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6374

New program targets gangs
The Kinstin Free Press (North Carolina)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6386

Jesus in the Jailhouse; Old-time religion confronts 21st-century
Texas prisons: Does it work and is it constitutional?
Dallas Observer (Texas)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6387

Katrina evacuees still struggling to rebuild
Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6388

Communities of Faith: Christian camp ready;
Group spruces up for homeless kids, Boys & Girls Club
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Georgia)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6389

ERD Congressional Testimony highlights role of faith-based institutions in fighting malaria in Africa
Episcopal Life Online

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6380

Evangelicals Push For Social Change
The Daily Northwestern (Illinois)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6381

Church World Service, faith groups press for Farm Bill overhaul
Church World Service

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6382

The Amachi Program
Central Florida News 13

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6390

Simple dignities of home: Groups to fund services for homeless
Lancaster Newspapers (Pennsylvania)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6391

Local church's drug ministry going strong
Suffolk News Herald (Virginia)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6392

Charity plays big role in Cuba visit
Idaho Press-Tribune (Idaho)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6393

Judge: No Religion at Post Office
Associated Press

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6396

Olanta youths get help, wisdom from outreach center
Florence Morning News (South Carolina)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6394

Former prisoners struggle with new lives, study says
The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6395

Religious group attacks religion in U.S. healthcare
Reuters

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6383