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Court Bars Suit Against Faith-Based Plan
The majority "closes the door on these taxpayers because the executive branch, and not the legislative branch, caused their injury," wrote Souter. "I see no basis for this distinction."
Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas would have gone further that the rest of the court, favoring a repudiation of the 1968 decision that in certain instances allows taxpayer lawsuits.
  President Bush, left, makes remarks on No Child Left Behind reauthorization in the East Room of the White House, Monday, June 25, 2007, in Washington. He is joined by students in the Presidential Scholars Program. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (J. Scott Applewhite - AP) Bench Conference
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"We had an opportunity today to erase this blot on our jurisprudence, but instead have simply smudged it," Scalia wrote.
With the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Bush says he wants to level the playing field so religious charities and secular charities compete for government money on an equal footing.
Jim Towey, formerly head of the White House office, said the ruling is "good news for addicts and the homeless and others seeking effective social services."
"It's also a repudiation of the kind of secular extremism that ruled the public square for decades," said Towey, now president of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa.
"It's a bad day for the First Amendment. The Supreme Court just put a big dent in the wall of separation between church and state," said Ralph G. Neas, president of People For the American Way Foundation, a liberal-oriented group.
The White House program appears to have had a substantial impact.
In fiscal 2005, seven federal agencies awarded $2.1 billion to religious charities, according to a White House report. That was up 7 percent from the year before and represented 10.9 percent of the grants from the seven federal agencies providing money to faith-based groups.
Among the programs: Substance abuse treatment, housing for AIDS patients, community re-entry for inmates, housing for homeless veterans and emergency food assistance.
