State's Department Of Homeland Security Pays For $28,000 Video Security System For Jewish Synagogue

Who said there was a constitutional separation of church and state? The Indiana Legislative Insight's Ed Feigbenbaum is reporting that the Indiana Department of Homeland Security awarded a more than $28,000 grant to an Indianapolis orthodox Jewish synagogue, B'Nai Torah, on the city's north side to install a closed circuit television system to "correct a vulnerability that had allowed an individual to enter the building undetected during the day or after hours." According to Feigenbaum, the grant is being used for the "installation of an alarm system connected to a central monitoring system facility," the "repair and replacement of entry door hardware"; and "staff training on how to identify and handle threats and respond to emergencies." I'm guessing you can attribute this misappropriation of public funds to Gov. Mike Pence's advisor, Tom Rose, who is a member of the B'Nai Torah congregation. The Indiana Constitution could not be more clear, if the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution misses the mark: "No money shall be drawn from the treasury for the benefit of any religious or theological institution." Of course, our Supreme Court essentially read that provision out of the state's constitution when it upheld public financing of religious schools through the state's school voucher program.

UPDATE: Please see the link to the document approving the grant money. This money comes from the federal Urban Areas Security Initiative Nonprofit Security Grant Program made available by the federal Department of Homeland Security. The purpose of the grant program is to provide "target hardening and other physical security enhancements to nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of terrorist attack" and located within eligible urban areas. There was $13 million appropriated for this federal grant program in FY2014 for grants of up to $75,000 that are awarded through the approved state agency. Nonprofit groups must be 501(c)(3) organizations exempt from taxation in order to qualify for the grants. Indianapolis is the only designated urban area in Indiana. There are supposed to be substantiated prior terrorist threats against the applicant based on their ideology, beliefs or missions, or some symbolic value as a national or historic site. What a total waste of taxpayer dollars. This was nothing but a corrupt congressional appropriation made to funnel money to favored interests to pay for security costs that churches and other nonprofits could and should easily assume financial responsibility. I wouldn't be surprised if some institutions stage threats simply to qualify for the federal grant money.