| Performance of Firm Foundation of Bradford County
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Battling Bias
Pennsylvania Jail Requires Religion With Rehabilitation ACLU PA, February 17, 2005 -- The only vocational training program available at a Pennsylvania county jail forces prisoners to participate in religious discussions, religious lectures and prayer, the American Civil Liberties Union charged today in a complaint filed in federal court. "Incarcerated men and women should not have to subject themselves to religious proselytizing in order to get the skills they need to reenter the workforce," said Mary Catherine Roper, an attorney with the ACLU of Pennsylvania. "Giving public dollars to private groups to teach inmates job skills or promote other non-religious services is an important part of this country’s social safety net, but using taxpayer dollars to convert a captive audience is unconstitutional." Today’s complaint, filed by the ACLU of Pennsylvania and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, details how the publicly funded Firm Foundation in Bradford County, improperly uses tax dollars in its Christian-centered job training program by pressuring prisoners to engage in prayer and listen to staff proselytizing. The complaint also charges that program administrators discriminate in hiring workers based on their religious beliefs and affiliation. Federal legislation is currently pending that would allow federally funded religious organizations to discriminate based on religion in job training programs. The ACLU supports an amendment to the Job Training Improvement Act (H.R. 27) to restore current law and to continue to defend critical civil rights protections designed to protect employees against religious discrimination. "There are many examples of religious institutions that use federal funds to provide valuable community services without trying to convert the recipients of those services," said Clark Moeller, the lead plaintiff and a member of the Bradford County Alliance for Democracy (BCAD). "Unfortunately, the Firm Foundation’s program has not been monitored adequately." A BCAD report detailed the First Amendment violations and fiscal mismanagement committed by the Firm Foundation, as well as the lack of federally required fiduciary oversight by the County Commissioners and the Pennsylvania Council on Crime and Delinquency, which funneled federal monies to the program. BCAD published the report last July, and it is available at www.bcad.info Today’s lawsuit, Moeller, et al. v. Bradford County, et al., was filed in U. S. District Court in Scranton, Penn., by Roper, Witold Walczak and Paula Knudsen of the ACLU of Pennsylvania along with Ayesha Khan, Richard Katskee and Alex Luchenitser of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to prevent the use of government funds for religious activities and religious discrimination, return of funds that have been spent improperly, and better monitoring by federal, state and local officials of grants to faith-based organizations. For a copy of the complaint, go to: http://www.aclu.org/ReligiousLiberty/ReligiousLiberty.cfm?ID=17513&c=37 return to top of page Firm Foundation Sued In Federal Court Towanda, PA. February 17, 2005 - A complaint was filed in federal court today on behalf of several Bradford County citizens, including a former prisoner of the Bradford County jail. The complaint charges that the Bradford County Commissioners and Firm Foundation of Bradford County, which supposedly operates a vocational training program for Bradford County prison inmates, have been violating the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. Firm Foundation has done this by using government funds to pay its staff who conducted religious discussions, religious lectures, and prayer during the vocational training program. Bradford County has violated the Constitution by funding Firm Foundation with government monies. The complaint was filed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania (ACLU PA). "Many religious institutions have provided wonderful services to their communities using federal funds -- including hospitals, soup kitchens, housing projects, and job programs -- without violating the Constitution," said Kris Schwenke, president of Bradford County Alliance for Democracy (BCAD) and one of the plaintiffs. "However," Schwenke added, "this is not what Firm Foundation has done. The documentation gathered by BCAD shows that Firm Foundation has proselytized, used religious discrimination in its hiring, and used public funds on a religious building." "When tax money is spent to support religious activities or institutions, as Bradford County and PCCD have done, they are endorsing a particular religion and this violates the First Amendment of the Constitution." In addition to Bradford County and Firm Foundation of Bradford County, the list of defendants also includes the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), and the U.S. Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales. The lawsuit, captioned "Moeller et al. v. Bradford County et al," was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The BCAD report, Performance of Firm Foundation of Bradford County, July 2004, (see www.bcad.info) detailed the First Amendment violations committed by Firm Foundation as well as the fiscal mismanagement of Firm Foundation and the lack of required fiduciary oversight by the County Commissioners and PCCD. "One of the foundations of religious liberty in America as well as our other freedoms," Schwenke said, "is that we each have the freedom to do or believe what we want so long as we do not interfere with the same freedom of others. By financing a religion as Bradford County and PCCD have done, they have compromised the religious freedom of others." return to top of page Lawsuit Opposes Proselytism, 'Christians-Only' Hiring Policy In Publicly Funded Inmate Program In Pa. Challenge To Religiously Based Vocational Training Program Tests Constitutionality Of Bush 'Faith-Based' Initiative Americans United, February 17, 2005 A federal lawsuit filed today by two civil liberties groups challenges taxpayer-funded religious instruction and job discrimination in a vocational training program for inmates in Bradford County, Pa. Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania say federal funding of the Firm Foundation program at the Bradford County Correctional Facility violates the Constitution by funneling public money to a program that proselytizes and hires only Christians. Over 90 percent of the budget for the program comes from federal, state and local funds. "Ministries have a right to spread their religious message, but they have no right to pass the collection plate to taxpayers," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "Programs with a 'Christians-only' hiring policy should not be eligible for public funds. "The case will serve as a major test of the Bush administration's 'faith-based' initiative," continued Lynn "I am confident that the federal courts will not allow public funds to pay for programs that offer religious instruction and discriminate on religious grounds in hiring." President George W. Bush has issued executive orders requiring federal departments to set up "faith-based" offices to direct public moneys to religious groups. The Bush orders also allow these groups to discriminate on religious grounds in hiring, even if the programs in question are funded entirely with federal dollars. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is one of the defendants in the lawsuit. The U.S. Department of Justice provides some of the funds that underwrite the Pennsylvania program being challenged. Under the program, inmates at the county jail learn vocational skills and work on construction projects in the community. The program includes prayer, Bible study and religious counseling. It is the only program offering vocational training at the facility. Firm Foundation imposes religious requirements on employees. A recent want ad for a site manager stipulated that the applicant must be "a believer in Christ and Christian Life today, sharing these ideals when opportunity arises." The ad noted that each work day "will start with a short prayer." In the Moeller v. Bradford County complaint filed in Harrisburg, Pa., in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Americans United and the ACLU assert that the program coerces inmates to take part in religious activity. "A significant portion of inmates' time in the program is spent not on the learning of job skills, but on religious discussions, religious lectures and prayer...," reads the complaint. "Program staff proselytize inmates in the specific religious beliefs of the Firm Foundation. Inmates are pressured to take part in prayer." The complaint also notes, "Virtually all expenses of the Firm Foundation program are paid by federal, state and local government funds." The funding originally came from a U.S. Department of Labor program under the Workforce Investment Act. Now funds are allocated through the U.S. Department of Justice. State and county funds are also involved. Plaintiffs include Bradford County taxpayers who are members of the Bradford County Alliance for Democracy, a local progressive group. A former inmate at the jail is also a plaintiff. The ex-inmate, Tim Thurston, took part in the Firm Foundation program because it was the only way for him to get vocational training. Thurston felt pressured to take part in religion during his time in the program. Americans United staff attorneys working on the Pennsylvania lawsuit include Legal Director Ayesha Khan, Assistant Legal Director Richard Katskee and Senior Litigation Counsel Alex Luchenitser. The Pennsylvania lawsuit comes as the House of Representatives in Washington is considering passage of the Job Training Improvement Act (H.R. 27). That measure contains language rolling back civil-rights protections that have existed in programs funded under this legislation since the early 1980s; it would allow religious organizations receiving these funds to discriminate on the basis of religion in employment. The bill was scheduled for mark-up by the full House Committee on Education and the Workforce Feb. 16 and is expected to reach the House floor early next month. Americans United contends that the language is unconstitutional. The lawsuit in Bradford County is designed to underscore that concept. 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