US court taxpayers can't sue on faith-based plan

WASHINGTON, June 25 (Reuters) A closely divided US Supreme Court ruled today that taxpayers cannot challenge President George W Bush's use of government funds to finance social programs operated by religious groups.

By a 5-4 vote, the high court's conservative majority sided with the Bush administration by ruling that a Wisconsin group called the Freedom from Religion Foundation and three of its members had no legal right to bring the lawsuit in the first place.

The ruling only addressed whether taxpayers can bring such challenges, not whether the program itself violated the US Constitution's requirement on the separation of church and state.

The majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, who was appointed to the high court by President George W Bush, overturned a lower-court ruling that allowed the lawsuit to proceed. Bush's other high court appointee, Chief Justice John Roberts, also joined the ruling.

REUTERS SKB RN2041