BOISE — The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday rejected claims by two people who sued the Boise Rescue Mission for insisting they take part in religious services.
The decision upheld a lower court's ruling that found the rescue mission wasn't subject to the federal Fair Housing Act.
The case arose after the Intermountain Fair Housing Council and two people who stayed at shelters run by the Boise Rescue Mission sued, saying the organization coerced residents into taking part in Christian-based services by giving preferential treatment to those who participated.
But the appellate court said neither Janene Cowles nor Richard Chinn had a protected right to participate in the mission's programs.
Boise Rescue Mission executive director Bill Roscoe said he was relieved by the appellate court's ruling, and thankful that the Washington, D.C.-based legal organization Becket Fund for Religious Liberty took up the case without charging the mission.
"We're really pleased that it's settled, at least for the moment," Roscoe said. "We're also really pleased with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty because they've done this pro bono, saved us thousands of dollars that we've been able to use for our real purpose, which is feeding people, providing shelter and programs of recovery for homeless people."
Officials with the Intermountain Fair Housing Council did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press requesting comment.
The Boise Rescue Mission operates a live-in drug treatment program for women and a homeless shelter for men. The drug treatment program places heavy restrictions on participants' activities and requires all participants to be or to desire to be Christian, according to court documents. Participants also must engage in several religious activities, including public and private prayer, Bible reading and worship services.
Cowles began staying at the Boise Rescue Missions in-patient drug treatment program in 2006 after a judge recommend she enter the program or face a year in the county jail.
Before she was admitted to the program, Cowles sent a letter to the Boise Rescue Mission indicating that she was aware of the religious nature of the program and stating that she wanted to change her life "through God and spiritual growth," according to the ruling.
Once she was in the program, Cowles said she was required to sing hymns in the choir, pray silently and out loud and allow the "laying on of hands." She said she was also regularly required to "cast out demons" in the facility, using oil and holy water.
The practices upset Cowles, and she said she ran out of the room crying on three occasions. When she asked if she could graduate from the drug treatment program without converting to Christianity, Boise Rescue Mission staffers reportedly told her that graduation without conversion had never happened.
About three months after being accepted into the program, Cowles asked to be transferred to a non-religious treatment facility. She said as a result, the mission barred her from certain activities and required that all her phone calls with her lawyer be made on speaker phone. A few months later, Boise Rescue Mission officials asked that Cowles be removed from the program because she wasn't in agreement with the biblically based curriculum and classes, and said she couldn't complete the program.
Cowles eventually complained to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, saying the mission had discriminated against her because of her sex and religion. But the federal agency rejected the complaint, saying that the FHA's religious exemption allowed the Boise Rescue Mission to reserve its program for Christians.
The agency also found that Cowles had written a letter to the state court — after leaving the Boise Rescue Mission — saying there were no hard feelings with the organization and that the people at the Boise Rescue Mission meant a lot to her.