Decision in Wisconsin State Employee Charitable Campaign Case

[Greg Baylor]

I thought list members might be interested in knowing that a federal
district in Wisconsin held last Friday that state officials violated the
Constitution by denying certain religious charities access to their state
employee charitable campaign.  Access to the campaign was conditioned on
compliance with a rule banning religious discrimination in choosing
employees and members of the governing board.

The case is Association of Faith-Based Organizations v. Bablitch, W.D. Wis
No. 06-C-175-S.  The opinion is online at
http://www.wiwd.uscourts.gov/bcgi-bin/opinions/district_opinions/C/06/06-C-1
75-S-09-29-06.PDF.

The court held that it was unreasonable under the circumstances for
Wisconsin to exclude these religious charities from the campaign.  The court
distinguished the Second Circuit's decision in Boy Scouts v. Wyman.

My organization represents the plaintiff in the case.

Greg Baylor

Gregory S. Baylor
Director, Center for Law & Religious Freedom
Christian Legal Society
8001 Braddock Road, Suite 300
Springfield, VA 22151
(703) 642-1070 x 3502
(703) 642-1075 fax
gbaylor at clsnet.org
http://www.clsnet.org