Victory for Wisconsin faith-based organizations
Court orders Wisconsin officials to allow religious organizations equal participation in state charitable program
Monday, October 02, 2006, 2:44 PM (MST)

MADISON, Wis. — A federal district court ruled in favor of the Association of Faith-Based Organizations Friday in its suit against Wisconsin officials for denying participation to religious charitable organizations in Wisconsin’s State Employees Combined Campaign. Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund and Christian Legal Society represent AFBO.

“A state cannot discriminate against religious organizations because they exercise their fundamental constitutional rights. This is a tremendous victory for religious freedom,” said Casey Mattox, litigation counsel for CLS’s Center for Law & Religious Freedom. “This decision reaffirms that a religious organization’s faith requirements for its employees and board members is protected under the U.S. Constitution.”

Wisconsin’s State Employees Combined Campaign is a state-operated program by which state employees may voluntarily authorize payroll deductions for charitable purposes. Wisconsin officials denied several faith-based organizations, including CLS, participation in the program because they require their board members and employees to share their religious beliefs.

The court’s order prohibits the program from denying any religious organizations participation based on their religious staffing requirements, permitting individual state employees to determine whether they will contribute to such organizations. A copy of the court’s memorandum and order 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/AFBOopinion.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 faith-based social service providers, educational institutions, membership associations, and advocacy and outreach organizations. More information on AFBO is available at www.allfaithbased.org.

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