positions In 2006 Lynn argued that Focus on the Family’s efforts to bring up moral issues in the 2004 election represented “a blatant effort by [James] Dobson to build a partisan political machine based in churches...[Dobson] has made it abundantly clear that electing Republicans is an integral part of his agenda and he doesn’t mind risking the tax-exemption of churches in the process”. A separate organization unrelated to Lynn's Americans United later filed a formal complaint with the IRS over Dobson's political endorsements. Lynn did not support this complaint, and the IRS determined that since the endorsements were given by Dobson as a private individual, they did not violate federal tax law. Americans United filed suit against the InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI), a program of Prison Fellowship Ministries. IFI had contracted with the state of Iowa to provide in-prison rehabilitation programs. The suit alleged that the Iowa program violated the separation of church and state in the Constitution. Lynn asserted that the program was saturated with Christian fundamentalism and treated non-fundamentalist inmates like second-class citizens. Prison Fellowship Ministries responded with claims that the program was effective in reducing recidivism, citing two studies — a 2002 one by the State of Texas and one done in 2003 by the University of Pennsylvania. These studies were contradicted by UCLA Professor Mark Kleiman's analysis, which found that Colson's 2003 figures were statistically invalid. Two federal courts agreed with Lynn that the program was unconstitutional. After a federal court struck down the program, Prison Fellowship appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The state of Iowa joined with IFI in appealing the decision. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals panel consisted of three judges: Duane Benton, Roger Leland Wollman, and retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor sitting by special designation. On December 3, 2007 this panel unanimously affirmed the lower court decision, and the IFI program was removed from the Iowa prison. Lynn was very critical of the Stupak–Pitts Amendment, which was supported by the Catholic Church, and which aims to restrict the federal funding of abortion in recent health care legislation. Awards and honors 2013 Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship References External links Barry W. Lynn at Americans United Short Biography of Rev. Barry W. Lynn at Kansas State University. Barry Lynn's articles for the Huffington Post American abortion-rights activists American religious leaders American religious writers