PA County Settles Lawsuit 'Faith-Based' Jail Ministry

[bcoylepa]

Way to go!!
This is my county and my group -
shows what you can do when the force is on your side


County Agrees to Bar Public Funding of Religious Activities and Religious Discrimination in All Future Contracts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 3, 2007

Towanda, PA - Officials in Bradford County, Pa., have agreed to bar any public funding of religious activities as part of a settlement of a lawsuit challenging a faith-based inmate rehabilitation program.

In 2005, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the national law firm of Arnold & Porter LLP brought a legal action on behalf of five Bradford County taxpayers against Bradford County and other governmental agencies for funding The Firm Foundation, a religiously based rehabilitation program at the Bradford County jail.

The Moeller v. Bradford County lawsuit charged that federal, state, and Bradford County violated the Constitution by using tax payers' money to fund The Firm Foundation because its program proselytized to inmates, pressured them to take part in prayer, and hired only Christians as employees. The situation in Bradford County was brought to public attention by the Bradford County Alliance for Democracy, a local citizens' group.

In a settlement agreement filed with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania today, Bradford County agreed that all of its future contracts will bar an array of unconstitutional activities involving government support of religion.

"This settlement will ensure that all Bradford County residents can take advantage of government programs that are supposed to be for their benefit without being subjected to unwelcome religious proselytizing," said Mary Catherine Roper, an attorney with the ACLU of Pennsylvania. "And Bradford County taxpayers will get what they are supposed to be paying for - government service programs - instead of seeing their taxpayer dollars used to convert a captive audience."
for more go to
http://www.aclupa.org/pressroom/bradfordcountysettleslawsu.htm

[brg5001]

1. What if "The Firm" were an ISLAMIC religious organization?

No doubt, an Islamic, Buddhist, Jewish or Scientologist group would have never gotten access to inmates. The problem with religious evangelists is that they never want to give equal time to those of other faiths (or no faith at all) who wish to evangelize as well. Kudos to Bradford County, PA taxpayers for standing up against the imposition of brainwashing. Even if the intent is to reform and rehabilitate the inmates, there is no excuse for force-feeding ANY relgion to a literally captive audience.

[bcoylepa]

2. thanks

we are a very small group - but very dedicated
you can read more about the case at http://bc-alliance.org/

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Congrats!! Way to go!!

[ComerPerro]

4. thanks for the hard work. Isn't it interesting that faith-based "charity" always

has strings attatched?