ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND-CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY NEWS RELEASE
April 3, 2006 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020

Discrimination against faith-based organizations in the name of fairness

Faith-based organizations file suit against Wisconsin officials
after being locked out of funding

MADISON, WI— Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund and Christian Legal Society filed suit on behalf of the Association of Faith-Based Organizations today against Wisconsin officials for denying funding to religious charitable organizations through Wisconsin’s State Employees Charitable Campaign.

The organizations refuse to comply with the state’s “non-discrimination statement,” which would require the groups to relinquish their constitutional right to associate with, hire, and be led by persons who share the organizations’ religious faith.

“Wisconsin officials should not be in the business of forcing faith-based charities to abandon their constitutional right to define themselves around shared religious beliefs,” said CLS Chief Litigation Counsel Steven H. Aden, Esq. That is exactly what Wisconsin is trying to do by prohibiting combined campaign charities from selecting employees and volunteers based upon their commitment to the organizations’ beliefs.”

Wisconsin’s State Employees Charitable Campaign is a state-operated program by which state employees may voluntarily authorize payroll deductions for charitable purposes.

“Secular non-profit organizations that hire, select members, and accept volunteers who comply and agree with their mission are allowed to participate in the program, but AFBO’s members are being required to abandon their religious staffing and membership requirements in order to be allowed into the program. Officials concerned about discrimination shouldn’t practice it themselves,” Aden said.

ADF and CLS attorneys seek an injunction prohibiting Wisconsin officials from excluding AFBO’s members. A copy of the complaint filed in the case Association of Faith-Based Organizations v. Bablitch in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Madison Division, can be read at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/AFBOcomplaint.pdf.

AFBO is an association of non-profit religious charities who seek to protect the constitutional freedom of religious organizations to staff and select members on a religious basis. AFBO is comprised of social service providers, educational institutions, membership associations, and advocacy and outreach organizations, including the Christian Legal Society, Teen Challenge International Wisconsin, Pro-Life Wisconsin, and other non-profit organizations.

Together, ADF, America’s largest legal alliance, and CLS, America’s premier membership organization of Christian legal professionals, defend religious liberty, human life, marriage, and the family.

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