State lawyers have asked a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit that challenges a Christian program for prison inmates and could derail President Bush's faith-based initiative.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State went to court more than a year ago seeking to end state support of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative. Prison Fellowship Ministries, which runs the program, bills it as a "Christ-centered, Bible-based prison program supporting prison inmates through their spiritual and moral transformation."
Americans United, a Washington D.C.-based advocacy group, contends that the use of state tax dollars to preach Christianity is unconstitutional.
The case is being closely watched because the same program operates in three other states -- Kansas, Minnesota and Texas. Lawyers warn that President Bush's faith-based initiative could be in jeopardy if the plaintiffs prevail.
"One important legal issue that this case raises is whether public funds can be used to pay employees who are selected based on their religious criteria," said Americans United lawyer Alex Luchenitser.
He said the case could "significantly curtail ... the whole faith-based initiative. Religious organizations are not going to want to take public funds if that affects who they can hire."
The case does not directly challenge President Bush's initiative, which calls for allowing faith-based groups to compete for federal funds to offer social services.
The company and state argue that federal law already allows states to choose religious organizations as social service providers, and that only private funds are used for religious expenses.
Iowa prison officials hired Reston, Va.-based Prison Fellowship Ministries in 1999 to offer the program at the Newton Correctional Facility in an effort to reduce recidivism.
Fred Scaletta, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Corrections, declined to comment on whether the program was working in Newton since it is under legal attack. In Texas, the recidivism rate over a two-year period was 8 percent for those who took part in the program and 22 percent for those who didn't.
Since the lawsuit was filed in February 2003, the case faded from public view as both sides went into a lengthy discovery phase.
When discovery finally wrapped up last month, lawyers had compiled more than 10,000 pages of documents -- including such minutiae as a log documenting the number of religious materials copied on a prison copy machine.
More than 200 inmates at the Newton prison take part in the program, which the lawsuit alleges makes them eligible for special benefits, including free telephone calls and television access.
Last week, state lawyers filed a motion asking for a summary judgment in their favor, saying the group and plaintiffs who are suing have no standing to do so.
They argued that none of the inmates were injured because they chose not to participate in the voluntary program. The 23-page brief also says that taxpayers weren't harmed because they would have had to pay the same amount of money to run the prisons if the program didn't exist.
Judge Robert W. Pratt has not issued a ruling on the motion, which will be resisted by the plaintiffs.
"We think the motion has absolutely no merit whatsoever," Luchenitser said. "We don't think there's any chance the court will grant this motion."
A trial date of Oct. 12 has been pushed back, but no new date has been set. Lawyers don't expect the case to go to trial until next spring.