8th Circuit Court Asked to Review Parts of Recent Ruling

Two Technical Aspects of Dec. 3 Ruling Challenged to Provide Opportunities for Faith-Based Organizations in the Future

ST. LOUIS, Dec. 17, 2007—Today the InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI), Prison Fellowship and the State of Iowa filed an en banc petition asking all 11 active judges in the Eighth Circuit to review a Dec. 3 ruling by former United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and two appellate judges. Although the three-judge panel reversed major parts of a federal district court judge's decision against the voluntary faith-based pre-release program for prisoners, IFI, Prison Fellowship and the State of Iowa are concerned that two technical legal principles that were part of the Eighth Circuit's ruling could have adverse implications in the future for IFI and other faith-based organizations if left unchallenged.

The en banc petition filed today argues that the Dec. 3 ruling did not appropriately apply two legal doctrines. It contends that:

• The court incorrectly applied the Zelman indirect aid test in its ruling. The appellate court found that there was no secular program offered to inmates as an alternative to IFI from 2004-2006, a period in which Iowa provided partial funding for the IFI program. IFI, Prison Fellowship and the State of Iowa contend that the state did offer secular rehabilitation programs to inmates that were alternatives to IFI.
   

• The court misapplied the Hein case in finding that Americans United and the individual taxpayers satisfied the narrow legal exception for taxpayer standing.

"While the technical legal aspects we disagree with in the Dec. 3 ruling don't currently impact the nine IFI programs operating across the nation, we feel these are important legal issues for all faith-based organizations going forward," said Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley.  "We think the appellate court didn't get the law right on these two points and that it's important, on principle, to ask the entire court to review them."

IFI operates nine privately-funded programs in six states, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri, including three programs for women. Prison Fellowship and the InnerChange Freedom Initiative are represented in the en banc petition by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, interfaith, legal and educational institute dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions, and the firm of Troutman Sanders, LLP, the Atlanta-based international law firm.

MEDIA NOTE: To schedule an interview with Prison Fellowship President and former Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley, an IFI graduate or for more information including b-roll, high-resolution, downloadable photos and a link to the court's ruling, visit www.DeMossNewsPond.com/IFI or contact Michelle Farmer (770) 813-0000 / 757-4900 (cell).

 

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