New York Times writes about Fort Wayne's Reverend Michael Latham

NEELA BANERJEE writes in the New York Times:


WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 — Indiana has ended a program that put a chaplain position on the payroll of the state’s Family and Social Services Administration.

In May, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, an advocacy group based in Madison, Wis., filed a lawsuit on behalf of several Indiana taxpayers challenging the program.

The foundation argued that the office was unconstitutional because it involved purely religious activities. This week, the state confirmed that it had disbanded the office and dismissed the minister, the Rev. Michael L. Latham.

“Indiana was establishing religion by, in the words of Latham’s job description, ‘encouraging a faithful environment in the workplace,’” said the foundation’s co-president, Annie Laurie Gaylor.

The Family and Social Services Administration disburses public assistance and other aid to the poor. It hired Mr. Latham, a Baptist minister, in 2006 to serve as its chaplain.

Sounds like some questions about religion, the NAACP and politics may be a good fit in this article. The out for the agency, "The workers at the Indiana agency 'do not appear to have religious needs that have been materially burdened by any acts of the government,' Mr. Lupu and Mr. Tuttle wrote."