Posted on 07/25/2002 12:22:07 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
NEW ORLEANS -- Some money from Louisiana's program to promote sexual abstinence among young people was used unconstitutionally to advance religion, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. ordered that the Governor's Program on Abstinence stop giving money to individuals or groups that convey religious messages "or otherwise advance religion in any way" in events partly or wholly paid for by program funds.
One group even asked for hundreds of dollars for Bibles. But the state says such grants were stopped even before the judge ruled.
Porteous' ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Money for the governor's program was funneled from federal "abstinence only" grants authorized under 1996 welfare legislation. Joe Cook, director of the Louisiana ACLU, said Porteous' ruling marked the first successful challenge in the nation of the way money from the federal program was used.
"It's a very well-reasoned, well-written ruling," Cook said.
Gov. Mike Foster, a strong backer of the program, said in a news release he is reviewing legal options but will take immediate steps to assure the program complies with the law. But he said it was sad that "such a worthwhile program" was challenged in the courts.
The lawsuit, filed in May, did not seek to end abstinence education in Louisiana, but did seek a judge's order prohibiting government money from being used to promote religion.
In addition to holding its own events to promote abstinence, the GPA has awarded more than $1 million to community groups seeking to promote the same message.
Porteous ordered the program to stop giving money to organizations that will use it to promote religion, including "institutions in which religion is so pervasive that a substantial portion of its functions are subsumed in the religious mission."
Porteous' ruling included examples of religious references in GPA-funded material. For example, GPA money went to a theater group called "Just Say `Whoa'" that put on plays to encourage abstinence among high school students. One "Just Say `Whoa'" character is named "Bible Guy" and states to other characters: "As Christians, our bodies belong to the Lord, not to us. God wants more for you than a one-night stand."
Another example: The GPA awarded money to the Southwest Louisiana Area Health Education Center. The center, in its grant application, requested $600 for awards and supplies that included Christian music tapes, $750 for Bibles, and $11 for a book telling children Christianity can keep them out of gangs.
In a June 18 hearing, GPA director Dan Richey acknowledged that some community groups that took money from the program used the money to promote religion.
But Richey and lawyers for the program said there was no need for a court order prohibiting such spending because the program had already stopped funding those groups and stresses a secular message.
And yet the fact that taxpayer $$ are being used to "promote" any type of private behavior is not questioned.
You could spend money on worse things.
One group in its monthly report talked about using the Christmas message of Mary as a prime example of the virtue of abstinence.
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