CLS Urges Senate to Retain SAMHSA Charitable Choice Provision and to Act on Judicial Nominations
CLS joined letters last week urging U.S. Senators to take necessary action to defend religious freedom and to act on outstanding judicial nominations.
The first letter asked the Senate to reject calls to eliminate statutory protections of religious liberty in the legislation governing the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
The "charitable choice" provision of this legislation, which was signed in 2000, allows faith-based social service providers to participate in government-funded programs without relinquishing their religious identity. The ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Human Rights Campaign and others want to eliminate this protection of religious liberty. The key issue is whether faith-based organizations participating in government-funded programs may continue to take religion into account in their personnel decisions.
The second letter encourages Senators Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell, Patrick Leahy, and Arlen Specter to take action on President Bush's judicial nominees. The letter notes that 28 nominees are pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
For more information, including the full text of the letters, please visit the CLS Center Blog at: religiousfreedom.blogspot.com
Center Director Greg Baylor Addresses Christian College Presidents
Center Director Greg Baylor participated in a panel discussion on hiring rights and religious freedom on February 2, 2008, during the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities' 32nd Annual Presidents Conference in Washington, D.C.
The Center for Law & Religious Freedom is the advocacy ministry of the Christian Legal Society, which is the professional association founded in 1961 of Christian attorneys, judges, law professors, law students, and friends throughout the United States.
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