Govern by law, not faith Wednesday, February 28, 2007 The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on Wednesday in a case that could have a broad impact on whether the courthouse door remains open to ordinary Americans who believe that the government is undermining the separation of church and state. The question before the court is whether a group seeking to preserve the separation of church and state can mount a First Amendment challenge to the Bush administration's "faith- based" initiatives. The arguments turn on a technical question of whether taxpayers have "standing," or the right to initiate this kind of lawsuit, but the real implications are serious. If the court rules that the group does not have standing, it will be much harder to stop government from giving unconstitutional aid to religion. Soon after taking office, President George W. Bush established the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, and faith-based offices in departments like justice and education. They were intended to increase the federal grant money going to religious organizations, and they seem to have been highly effective. The Freedom From Religion Foundation and several of its members sued. They say that because the faith-based initiatives favor religious applicants for grants over secular applicants, they violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits government support for religion. The courts must decide whether the plaintiffs have the right to sue in this case before they can consider the constitutionality of the faith- based programs. An appeals court has ruled, correctly, that the plaintiffs have standing. Procedural issues like standing can have an enormous impact on the administration of justice if they close the courthouse door on people with valid legal claims. The Supreme Court should affirm the lower court's ruling and move on to the important question: Do Bush's faith-based policies violate the Constitution?