WISCONSIN CASE TESTS FAITH-BASED INITIATIVES

In a case that could challenge President Bush's faith-based initiatives,
lawyers argued in federal appeals court Wednesday over whether the
Wisconsin Department of Corrections can use state-funded vouchers to send
offenders to a religiously oriented drug- and outpatient-treatment facility.

"This is obviously going to be a precedent for federal contributions to
various programs, including drug programs," said DePaul University law
professor Rodney Blackman, who specializes in church-state issues.

The Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, a church-state
separationist group, brought the case against the Corrections Department
and Faith Works Milwaukee, a residential treatment program.

At issue is whether it is constitutional for the government to fund
vouchers that can be used at a faith-based service provider, given that 1st
Amendment forbids the state to endorse religion.

Early last year a U.S. District Court in Wisconsin ruled that the state's
Department of Workforce Development could not give unrestricted direct
funding to Faith Works because the organization engaged "in religious
indoctrination."

But in October the same court said corrections officials could fund
vouchers for treatment at Faith Works because offenders are aware of its
religious nature and choose the provider voluntarily.

On Wednesday lawyers for the Corrections Department and Faith Works argued
that the Supreme Court set a precedent when it ruled last summer that
state-funded education vouchers could be used to pay tuition at religious
schools.

In its brief, the department said the drug-treatment vouchers did not imply
a state endorsement of religion. The Corrections Department, it said, chose
Faith Works not because of its religious affiliation but because of the
length of its program and its emphasis on employment and responsible
fatherhood.

The Corrections Department gives offenders secular alternatives, its
lawyers said.

But Richard Bolton, attorney for the Freedom From Religion Foundation,
argued in court that the Department of Corrections endorsed religion by
referring people to Faith Works.

Bolton said this voucher plan differs from educational voucher programs
because the department chose a particular religious group to endorse. The
secular alternatives, he argued, are not comparable in terms of length of
treatment.

Bush, who praised Faith Works as a presidential candidate in 2000, supports
the use of federal funds for faith-based initiatives. Last month he
proposed using federal housing money to help build centers that host
religious services and offer social service programs.

Blackman said he suspects the U.S. Supreme Court would uphold a decision to
allow vouchers for religiously based treatment centers.

"The court has moved in the direction of being accommodationist toward
religion as long as there are secular options," he said. "It's a reduction
of the wall that used to exist to a greater degree than it does now
separating church and state."