FEMA/RELIGION: “Three Texas churches damaged by Hurricane Harvey are suing the Federal Emergency Management Agency, alleging that the agency unconstitutionally denies them disaster relief funds.
Under existing FEMA policy, houses of worship are not eligible for disaster aid.
Eric Rassbach, a lawyer with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the churches, said the policy violates the First Amendment.
‘This is really about equal access,’ Mr. Rassbach said. ‘These churches are not looking for special treatment. They’re just looking to get treated the same as every other community institution.’
In response to the lawsuit, Alex J. Luchenitser, the associate legal director at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said allowing churches to receive disaster relief funds would undermine one of the country’s founding doctrines…
A FEMA official declined to comment on the lawsuit.”
-Ian Lovett, “Three Churches Sue FEMA Over Denial of Disaster Funds,” The Wall Street Journal online, Sept. 5, 2017 03:53pm