The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday in favor of a Detroit church that had been denied reimbursement for property improvements requested by the city.
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) had appealed an earlier decision by a federal district court that had allowed for most of the money promised to be reimbursed, but not the entire amount.
American Atheists had argued the downtown church should not have received a grant to give the community a face-lift ahead of the 2006 Super Bowl.
But the 6th Circuit unanimously disagreed.
“The court said churches don’t have to be excluded and treated basically like a disease in the community,” said Dale Schowengerdt, legal counsel for ADF.
“It’s a program that the government started and sought participants for, and the church paid half of the improvements and the government paid the other half.”
— Josh Montez
