US Department of Justice Turns to Matters of Religion

March 11, 2005

Source: Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-religion7mar07.story

On March 11, 2005 the Los Angeles Times reported, "the Salvation Army was accused in a lawsuit of imposing a new religious litmus test on employees hired with millions of dollars in public funds. When employees complained that they were being required to embrace Jesus Christ to keep their jobs, the Justice Department's civil rights division took the side of the Salvation Army. Defending the right of an employer using public funds to discriminate is one of the more provocative steps taken by a little-known arm of the civil rights division and its special counsel for religious discrimination. The Justice Department's religious-rights unit, established three years ago, has launched a quiet but ambitious effort aimed at rectifying what the Bush administration views as years of illegal discrimination against religious groups and their followers."