Tallahassee, USA - 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.
The organizations clothe, feed, house and provide religiously based substance abuse rehabilitation and other services.
The 1st District Court of Appeal's decision remands the case back to the lower court for trial.
The state contracts with about 25 faith-based providers to operate the program.
In its opinion, the panel of three judges found that Judge John Cooper erred by not applying the appellate court's prior ruling in another church-and-state case: Bush v. Holmes. That 2006 case went to the state Supreme Court and ultimately struck down a school voucher program that spent state dollars on private schools, some of them sectarian.
Ronald A. Lindsay, president and CEO of the Council for Secular Humanism, said he is convinced his side will prevail at trial. "By bringing this case, we are protecting religious liberty for both religious and secular individuals. No one should be compelled to subsidize any religion with their tax dollars."
Mike Lewandowski, pastor, CEO and founder of Lamb of God Ministries, said he was disappointed by the ruling but had no qualms about facing trial in the case. On the bright side, he said, the publicity surrounding the case highlights the services his organization provides.