Supreme Court refuses ACORN challenge

WASHINGTON, June 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court Monday refused without comment to review the case of community group ACORN, which U.S. law banned from getting federal funds.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, now defunct, said the provisions in several pieces of appropriations legislation constituted an unconstitutional "bill of attainder" -- punishment by the Legislature without trial.

Founded in Arkansas, the organization's downfall began in 2009, when undercover video taken by two conservative activists appeared to show ACORN employees giving advice on how to hide prostitution. Republican officials also accused the group of vote fraud.

A federal appeals court threw out a judge's permanent injunction against the law banning federal funding. ACORN had been getting about 10 percent of its money from the federal government.

Nevertheless, the federal appeals court in New York said in its 2009 ruling, "ACORN has helped over 2 million people register to vote, advocated for increasing the minimum wage, worked against predatory lending, prevented foreclosures, assisted over 150,000 people file their tax returns and 'worked on thousands of issues that arise from the predicaments and problems of the poor, the homeless, the underpaid, the hungry and the sick."

The organization had 500,000 members in 75 cities across the United States, with national offices in Brooklyn, N.Y.