By Robert Marus
CINCINNATI (ABP) -- A federal
appeals court said Jan. 17 that the Michigan government was right to
discontinue funding a Christian ministry for abused, neglected and
delinquent children.
A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a lower federal court's
ruling against Teen Ranch because the organization regularly
incorporates overtly religious instruction and activity into its
treatment regimen.
The ministry had been receiving funds
from the Michigan Family Independence Agency for housing and
rehabilitating youths since the 1960s. However, after a routine 2003
review, agency officials instituted a moratorium on placing any more
at-risk youths at Teen Ranch. They cited state and federal laws that
prohibit proselytization with government funds.
After negotiations with the agency,
Teen Ranch presented a plan for rectifying other church-state
concerns FIA officials had, but pointedly refused to address
Michigan's concerns about incorporating religious teaching into the
youths’ day-to-day activities.
Following the final round of
negotiations with the state, Teen Ranch issued a statement that
said, in part, "The mission statement of Teen Ranch states,
'providing hope to young people and families through life-changing
relationships and experiences from a Christian perspective.' This
mission, and our interpretation of this mission, will not change, be
sacrificed, nor will it be compromised. … incorporating religious
teachings into on-going daily activities of youth and their
treatment plans touches at the core of why we were founded, why we
are here today, and why we will continue to include such programming
for children in our care."
The state informed Teen Ranch it
would not lift its moratorium on placing children with the
organization. Teen Ranch officials then sued, claiming FIA had
violated their religious freedom, freedom of speech and right to
equal protection by the denial of funds. But a federal district
court disagreed.
The Michigan program provided funding
on a per-child basis. Even though the Supreme Court has ruled that
the government can fund religious social services through such
voucher-type programs, the beneficiaries must have "true private
choice" in selecting the religious programs over secular
alternatives.
Teen Ranch appealed the lower court's
decision. But Judge Damon Keith of the appeals court noted the
Michigan children had no choice about which programs they were
placed in.
"For the same reasons identified by
the district court, we conclude that the opt-out provision of the
public act did not provide the children placed in the care of the
FIA with 'true private choice,'" he wrote, in the Cincinnati-based
court's opinion.
Keith pointed out that "at least 35"
of the 96 child-services providers Michigan's FIA contracts with are
faith-based. None of the other providers has been found in violation
of the rules against proselytizing without an opt-out provision for
the students.
The ruling is one of several recent
decisions against religious groups receiving federal or state
funding to conduct social services. In many, courts found the
organizations receiving government funds had failed to include
adequate safeguards to assure that government funds were not spent
on overtly religious teaching or worship activities.
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