Law Update

A recent federal court ruling from Louisiana could hold some important implications for the Bush administration's push for including faith-based providers in social-policy programs.

U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. of New Orleans issued a preliminary injunction July 25 barring the state of Louisiana from distributing abstinence- only sex education funds to groups that have been using them in programs that convey religious messages.

Federal and state money provided under the Louisiana initiative, known as the Governor's Program on Abstinence, "are being used to convey religious messages and advance religion" in violation of the First Amendment's prohibition against a government establishment of...