Atheists sue N.D. over youth ranch

An atheist group says North Dakota officials are using public money to religiously indoctrinate young people at the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, according to a federal lawsuit.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation wants a judge to declare a violation of the constitutional separation of church and state, and order the government to stop sending children or money to the ranch.

The ranch has three residential facilities for troubled youth and also offers day-programs.

About $7 million in federal, state and county money has gone through the Human Services Department to foster care services at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch in two years, but the money is not for religious programs, said Carol Olson, executive director of the state Human Services Department.

"The Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch receives private donations to support their spiritual life programs," Olson said.

The government money makes up about 70 percent of the organization's budget, said Gene Kaseman, president of the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch Association.

The ranch is affiliated with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Its mission is to "help at risk children and their families succeed in the name of Christ," according to its Web site.

"The Dakota Boys & Girls Ranch provides services to children in the context of an explicitly Christian community, including post-release mentoring services, which are publicly funded with taxpayer appropriations," the lawsuit says.

It would be difficult for the Boys and Girls Ranch to keep public and private money separate, said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Even if that is possible, she said, public money frees up more private money for religious purposes.

"The whole purpose of this ranch is to proselytize and indoctrinate," she said.

The suit filed Tuesday in federal court in Bismarck against Lisa Bjergaard, director of juvenile services for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and Daniel Richter, director of Ward County Social Services.

Bjergaard said no youth are placed in a facility "without a good, thorough review that ensures that they're placed in compliance with state and federal law."