Denver, May 23, 2006 ... The Anti-Defamation League's Mountain States Regional Office today expressed serious concerns about reports that Wyoming state funds are being used by religious organizations to promote religious agendas, and called upon the Wyoming Attorney General to launch a full-scale investigation into whether these expenditures violate the Wyoming Constitution and long-standing principles of separation of church and state.

The Associated Press reported that the Wyoming Department of Family Services has funneled tens of thousands of dollars to a grant program administered by a private religious corporation that has funded churches, ministries and religiously oriented anti-abortion centers.

Bruce H. DeBoskey, ADL's Mountain States Regional Director issued the following statement:

The reported use of Wyoming state funds to promote religion raises bright red flags that indicate the Wyoming Constitution and principles of church/state separation may have been violated.  The Wyoming Constitution provides that "No money of the state shall ever be given or appropriated to any sectarian or religious society or institution." The AP report raises serious questions about whether this law, embodying long-standing principles of church and state separation, has been flagrantly ignored.

ADL calls upon the Wyoming Attorney General to immediately launch a full-scale investigation to ascertain whether violations of Wyoming and Federal law have occurred. The citizens of Wyoming deserve a full explanation as to what extent state funds are being used to promote one religion over another, and religion over non-religion, in violation of law.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.