White House Bypasses Law on Religious Hiring

In a newly disclosed memorandum, the Bush administration says it can override laws that forbid the federal government from awarding grants to religious groups that hire only members of their faith, reports The New York Times.

The memorandum authorized a $1.5-million grant from the Justice Department to World Vision, a group that hires only Christians, for salaries of staff members running a program that seeks to prevent troubled youngsters from joining gangs.

While the Justice Department program was legally supposed to benefit groups that do not discriminate, the White House argues that the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act permits exceptions to a federal law if obeying it would impose a “substantial burden” on people’s ability to freely exercise their religion.

Several law professors told the newspaper they found the memorandum’s arguments legally dubious. But the Justice Department “stands strongly behind the opinion, which is narrowly drawn and carefully reasoned,” said Erik Ablin, an agency spokesman.

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