7th Circuit Dismisses Challenge To VA Chaplain Program On Standing Grounds

In Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. v. Nicholson, (7th Cir., Aug. 5, 2008), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed for lack of taxpayer standing a challenge to aspects of the Department of Veterans Affairs Chaplain Service. Plaintiffs alleged that the focus of the Chaplain service on clinical care which integrates spirituality and religion into VA treatment programs violates the Establishment Clause. The court held:

Freedom From Religion's lawsuit ... is not predicated ... on the notion that Congress appropriated money from federal taxpayers expressly for the creation of a clinical chaplaincy. Instead, Freedom From Religion simply is challenging the executive branch's approach to veterans' healthcare and the manner in which the executive, in its discretion, uses the services of its chaplain personnel. Allowing taxpayer standing under these circumstances would subvert the delicate equilibrium and separation of powers that the Founders envisioned and that the Supreme Court has found to inform the standing inquiry.

In the case, the trial court had reached the merits and held that the VA's holistic treatment program serves a valid secular purpose. (See prior posting.) [Thanks to Alliance Alert for the lead.]