Groups: South Bend land buy violates constitution

[rug]

SOUTH BEND, Ind.— Civil liberties groups asked a federal judge on Tuesday to block South Bend from spending $1.2 million to buy a Family Dollar store and selling the property for $1 to the local Roman Catholic diocese, which wants the land for a new high school's football field.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Americans United for Separation of Church and State contend that the move by the city would violate the First Amendment.

"We hope to protect parents from having to support religious schooling that they don't agree with," said Barry Lynn, executive director of the American United group. "We think religious schools ought to be supported entirely from the goodwill of the folks that believe in that religion. They should not be turning to the rest of taxpayers to fund those projects and ministries."

The groups' complaint was filed a day after Marion Superior Court Judge Michael Keele declined to halt Indiana's broad new school voucher program, saying the law was "religion-neutral" and likely to be upheld. The voucher law is being challenged by a group of teachers and religious leaders backed by the Indiana State Teachers Association, claiming it violates the Indiana Constitution by providing public money to religious institutions.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-ap-in-religiouslawsuit,0,7788903.story

This is considerably different from renovating a preschool bathroom to make it handicap accessible.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Taxpayers not only are buying land for a religion, but that land is also being taken

off the municipal tax rolls, making taxpayers pay more for their property taxes.

[rug]

2. Egregious.

[rrneck]

3. For a football field. Jesus fucking Christ. nt

[rug]

4. And that's altogether another religious use.

[Adsos Letter]

5. Go get 'em AU & ACLU!

This kind of thing is precisely why I support both of these organizations financially. :thumbsup:

[darkstar3]

6. So the line between acceptable and unacceptable religious use of tax dollars is one of scale?

[Adsos Letter]

7. It certainly shouldn't be.