ACORN sues over cutoff of funding

WASHINGTON — The community organizing group ACORN is suing the federal government, saying that Congress violated the U.S. Constitution when it barred the group from receiving federal funds.

Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., has been at the forefront of efforts in the Senate to halt funding for ACORN, while Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, has been a vocal proponent of such measures in the House.

Statements by both lawmakers are cited as evidence of Congress’ “punitive intent” in the lawsuit, filed Thursday in a federal court in New York.

The suit is based on the resolution passed by Congress to keep the government functioning while the regular spending bills — delayed as usual this year — work their way through the legislative process. The resolution includes language stopping the flow of any federal money to ACORN or affiliated groups.

As a result, payments under existing grants and contracts held by the groups have been suspended and applications for new funding rejected, the lawsuit states. ACORN and its affiliates have been forced to lay off employees, close offices and reduce services, according to the lawsuit, which asks the court to order a resumption of funding.

ACORN employees and volunteers allegedly were involved in a number of voter registration fraud cases arising from last year’s election. More recently, videotapes secretly recorded by a conservative activist showed ACORN employees giving advice on how to establish a brothel with underage prostitutes.

Since 2003, the lawsuit says, ACORN has registered 2 million voters — most who live in minority communities — earning “the animosity of political forces who are dedicated to the proposition that the fewer poor people who vote the better.”

During a September speech on the Senate floor, Johanns quoted a judge who said, “Somebody has to go after ACORN.”

“Well, I suggest today, on the floor of the Senate, that ‘somebody’ is each and every U.S. senator,” Johanns said.

Johanns spokeswoman Ann Marie Hauser disagreed that the group’s constitutional rights had been violated.

“The intent is not to punish but to safeguard taxpayers from waste, fraud and abuse,” she said Thursday. “ACORN is an organization that has a pattern and culture of employees engaging in fraud and other illegal behavior. Receiving federal funding is a privilege, not a right.”

King said in an interview that ACORN’s activities threaten to undermine the country’s voting system and that cutting off the group’s funding is no constitutional violation. He compared the situation to a child receiving a monthly allowance to take out the garbage and mow the lawn.

“If ... instead they went joyriding on the lawnmower and scattered the garbage, we’d cut off their allowance,” King said.

Contact the writer:

202-662-7270, joe.morton@owh.com

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