Can Faith-Based Groups Receiving Government Funds Have Discriminatory Voting Policies?

A New York Times report on Friday raises the question of what sort of anti-discrimination rules apply to faith-based social service agencies that receive federal government funding. In Brooklyn, New York's Crown Heights-- an area populated mostly by Hasidic Jews-- the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council has received millions of dollars in government grants over the years to offer a variety of social services.  However, the Council's rules impose strict limits on who can vote for leaders of the Council.  To vote, one must be Jewish and a religiously observant residents of Crown Heights; must be married, previously married or at least 30 years old; and must be male.  Now one Crown Heights resident, Eliyahu Federman, is challenging the Council's disenfranchisement of women. The Council's executive director says that the entire Council structure, including voting policy, is under review. The next elections are in 2013.