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| Faith-based prison rehab case reversed |
| By tbo.com |
| Published: 12/16/2009 |
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TALLAHASSEE - Advocates for the separation of church and state scored a victory Tuesday when the 1st District Court of Appeal reversed the dismissal of their claim that state-funded, "faith-based" rehabilitation of ex-prisoners is unconstitutional. The Council for Secular Humanism, a New York-based organization with membership in Florida, had appealed a Leon County Circuit Court judge's 2008 dismissal of the group's complaint that the state's contract with Prisoners of Christ and Lamb of God Ministries is unconstitutional. Specifically, the appellant complained that the contracts violate the "no-aid" provision of the Florida Constitution, which bars the state from spending taxpayer money "directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution." Lamb of God Ministries is located in Okeechobee and has facilities in Pompano Beach; Prisoners of Christ is based in Jacksonville. Their state contracts derive from a law passed in 2001 authorizing the Department of Corrections to hire faith-based service providers to operate substance abuse transitional housing programs for people recently released from state prison. Read More. |
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