The Freedom From Religion Foundation announced yesterday that it has filed suit against the Attorney General, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the Office of Management and Budget to challenge the Bureau of Prison’s faith-based Life Connections Program. Three federal taxpayers are also plaintiffs in the suit filed in federal district court in Wisconsin. The FFRF Complaint alleges that the challenged program is "designed to effect personal transformation using the participant's faith commitment." It was created by Bureau Chaplain Kendall Hughes as a faith-based model "based on the premise that inmates should pursue, nurture and commit themselves to religious faith." Life Connections is operating in at least 5 institutions, and the Bureau is now soliciting proposals for a pilot "single-faith" residential re-entry program. (See prior posting.) The lawsuit claims that federal funding of Life Connections violates the Establishment Clause. It also challenges the practice of the Office of Management and Budget in “grading” agencies on the extent to which they have increased funding to faith-based agencies.
On Balkinization last month, Marty Lederman posted the arguments that support FFRF’s claim of unconstitutionality. He concluded: "With all of these constitutional infirmities, it is hard to imagine that the Office of Legal Counsel signed off on this BOP program."
