Court: Atheist organization can’t sue over treatment center for troubled children
http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4613
ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND STATEMENT
July 18, 2008 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or www.telladf.org/pressroom
Court: Atheist organization can’t sue
over treatment center for troubled children
Federal judge dismisses suit filed against N.D. officials
for referrals to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch
BISMARCK, N.D. — Alliance Defense Fund attorneys say a federal court made the right call Thursday in rejecting a lawsuit filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation over state referrals to a non-profit, church-affiliated treatment center for troubled children.
“A group of extremist atheists cannot simply demand that a Christian group be discriminated against because of its beliefs. For the state to do so would be patently unconstitutional,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Joel Oster. “The court was right in determining that the atheists had no right to sue.”
The court ruled that FFRF did not have standing to sue the state merely because its members are taxpayers who disagree with the state’s referrals.
According to the judge’s order, “The Court finds that the Plaintiffs have not established a sufficient link between or pocketbook injury from their payment of municipal taxes and the referral of children to the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch.”
The ranch, which is affiliated with the Lutheran church, provides treatment and education to at-risk children and their families.
“The program FFRF attacked has been very successful in helping at-risk children,” Oster said. “This is a victory for kids who need help the most. A win by the atheists would have hurt the children, making them innocent victims of a handful of atheists.”
The full text of the order issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, Southwestern Division, in Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Olson is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/DakotaBoysRanchOrder.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.