Court case could open door to legal fight over faith-based initiative

Published: 2007-03-01

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In a case that hinges on procedural questions of when a taxpayer has the legal standing to challenge how the administration spends money appropriated by Congress, the Supreme Court is being asked to open the door to legal fights over President George W. Bush's faith-based initiative. The only question before the court is the fairly dry issue of whether taxpayers have standing under the Establishment Clause of the Constitution to challenge actions of the executive branch that are only indirectly financed through general appropriations by Congress. During oral arguments Feb. 28, Solicitor General Paul Clement argued that taxpayers only have the legal standing to challenge how the administration spends money when the funds are going directly to an outside source. Attorney Andrew Pincus, arguing on behalf of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group of Wisconsin-based atheists and agnostics, argued that because the meetings organized by the White House were religious in character it was unconstitutional for them to be paid for with U.S. government money.

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