By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
The U.S. Supreme Court handed a major victory to a Catholic group at the University of Wisconsin when it determined that funding such groups does not violate the separation of church and state.
The Daily Cardinal is reporting that the U.S. Supreme Court let stand an appellate court decision ordering the University of Wisconsin-Madison to restore funding to Badger Catholic after denying money to the group because it is involved in prayer and worship services.
“The constitutional rights of Christian student organizations should be recognized by university officials, just as they recognize those rights for other student groups,” said an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, which represented the Badger Catholic student organization in court. “The university funded the advocacy and expression of other student organizations but singled out a Catholic student organization to exclude funding some of its expression based purely upon its religious content, and that’s simply not constitutional.”
The case began in 2007 when Badger Catholic, then known as the Roman Catholic Foundation, received $253,000 in funds from the university, but was later stripped of the $35,000 that had been earmarked for religious worship activities. The university argued that funding an organization that runs retreats and evangelical training camps would amount to an illegal endorsement of religion.
Badger Catholic filed suit, saying the denial violated the group’s First Amendment right to free speech. After several years of legal wrangling, the Court ruled in the group’s favor and let stand an earlier decision by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals requiring the university to fund the activities.
The university issued a statement voicing disappointment in the court’s decision not to take up the case.
“We had been seeking more complete guidance not only for our own institution, but for all institutions of higher education confronting similar situations,” the university said in the statement. “We respect the court’s decision and will move forward.”
Nico Fassino, president of Badger Catholic, heralded the move as a victory for faith-based student organizations.
“It was never about receiving compensation,” Fassino told the Daily Cardinal, but said the ruling will not only allow Badger Catholic to continue performing services on campus, but will allow religious student organizations across the U.S. to deepen their level of services provided to students.
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