This week a federal appeals court ruled that tax funding of a Christian rehabilitation program at an Iowa state prison violates the separation of church and state. Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) filed a lawsuit in 2003 against the state of Iowa and Prison Fellowship, which operated a pre-release program for inmates called the InnerChange Freedom Initiative. AU charged that the program, in one of the state's prisons, promoted religious indoctrination and violated the constitutional separation of church and state. In June, a federal judge ruled in agreement with AU and ordered the Prison Fellowship to repay the state money it had received under contract. The case was appealed, with the group claiming the funds went towards nonreligious activities. And now the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower courts ruling, but reversed the order that Prison Fellowship repay the state money. An AU press release quoted AU Senior Litigation Counsel Alex J. Luchenitser, "This ruling is a major setback for the White House's 'Faith-Based Initiative.' It reaffirms that the government must ensure that public funds are not used for religious instruction, and that the government must not aid programs that discriminate based on religion."

Read the story in the New York Times here.