Judge Blocks ACORN Funding Ban
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A federal judge has blocked U.S. officials from enforcing a funding ban on the community action group ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. At the same time, an independent investigation shows the organization did not engage in illegal activities.
U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon in New York issued a temporary injunction late on Dec. 11 against the funding ban. Congress cut off funding in September after accusations of alleged wrongdoing by workers in one local ACORN office. The group sued the federal government in November, arguing Congress had violated the Constitution by singling out the group for punishment without any legal process to adjudicate guilt. ACORN has fired the employees suspected of wrongdoing.
In her ruling, Gershon said statements by Republican members of Congress accusing ACORN of being a criminal organization that deserved to be punished “underline the punitive nature of the government’s purportedly non-punitive reason” for the funding ban.
