Editorial: Church-state separation

Saturday, March 3, 2007 | 7:07 a.m.

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether taxpayers can sue the Bush administration over government grants issued to faith-based organizations.

The case involves the separation of church and state, a line that can be fuzzy on its best day, especially under the Bush administration. The Supreme Court has heard arguments in a case filed by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation. The group of agnostics and atheists support the strictest interpretation of church-state separation and opposes President Bush's 2001 establishment of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

The Supreme Court must decide whether ordinary taxpayers can even bring such complaints to court. The Supreme Court ruled decades ago that taxpayers do not have standing to challenge government spending with which they simply don't agree - except when it is alleged that such spending violates the First Amendment clause prohibiting Congress from making laws "respecting the establishment of a religion."

Certainly, faith-based organizations that offer the kind of community and social services that government typically provides should be eligible to apply for federal grants as do other nonprofit groups providing similar services.

But the Bush administration has an ugly track record of finding ways to inappropriately funnel federal money to the president's political cronies and supporters, which is all the more reason why faith-based spending shouldn't be exempt from legitimate legal challenges.