Taxpayers who complained about Christian prayers before the Indiana legislature do not have standing to sue according to a federal appeals court ruling.

On a recent Supreme Court ruling a 2-1 ruling by a panel of the 7^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hinged on a ruling that said taxpayers did not have a standing to challenge the constitutionality of the White House’s faith-based initiative.

“The plaintiffs have not tied their status as taxpayers to the House’s allegedly unconstitutional practice of regularly offering a sectarian prayer,” wrote Circuit Judge Kenneth F. Ripple. “They have not shown that the legislature has extracted from them tax dollars for the establishment and implementation of a program that violates the Establishment Clause.”

The appeals court, factoring in the Supreme Court’s June decision in Hein v. Freedom from Religion Foundation, the lower court overruled by saying the funds used to pay for clergy and the prayers came from a general budget and not a specific appropriation.

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