Court rules against taxpayer challenge to lawmaker prayers

A federal appeals court ruled Oct. 30 that taxpayers who complained about Christian prayers before the Indiana legislature do not have standing to sue.

The 2-1 ruling by a panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hinged on a recent Supreme Court ruling that said taxpayers did not have standing to challenge the constitutionality of the White House’s faith-based initiative.

“The plaintiffs have not tied their status as taxpayers to the House’s allegedly unconstitutional practice of regularly offering a sectarian prayer,” wrote Circuit Judge Kenneth F. Ripple. “They have not shown that the legislature has extracted from them tax dollars for the establishment and implementation of a program that violates the Establishment Clause.”

In 2005, a lower court ruled that the prayers before the legislature violated the constitutional prohibition on governmental establishment of religion.

But the appeals court, factoring in the Supreme Court’s June decision in Hein v. Freedom from Religion Foundation, overruled the lower court, saying the funds used to pay for clergy and the prayers came from a general budget and not a specific appropriation.

Indiana House Republican Leader Brian Bosma said he was “elated” by the appellate ruling.

“There is no more fundamental freedom than the right of individuals to offer thoughtful speech, uncensored by the federal government, before our elected bodies, and the Court of Appeals ruling guarantees this right for future generations,” he said.

Circuit Judge Diane P. Wood dissented in the decision, calling the majority’s requirement about tracing money to state accounts “an excessive requirement” to determine standing.

— RNS