Court Bars State Effort Using Faith in Prisons

December 4, 2007

Author: NEELA BANERJEE

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/us/04evangelical.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

A federal appeals panel ruled yesterday that a state-financed evangelical Christian program to help prisoners re-enter civilian life fostered religious indoctrination and violated the constitutional separation of church and state.

The decision by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, in St. Louis, was the latest in a series of rulings over the last year to reinforce laws that bar government money from promoting religion, said Robert Tuttle, a law professor at George Washington University who is an expert on religion-based initiatives.