The Supreme Court Looks Likely to Give Religious Groups Another Win

[Celerity]

The ruling in the case involving a group of Catholic charities seeking tax exemptions in Wisconsin could have national ramifications.

https://newrepublic.com/article/193402/wisconsin-catholic-charities-supreme-court-tax-exemptions-religious-groups

https://archive.ph/HHKwz



The Supreme Court appears likely to side with a group of Catholic charities over an exemption from Wisconsin’s unemployment insurance program, but the justices did not signal in oral argument on Monday how broad its potential decision would be. While the case only concerns one state, the court’s eventual ruling could have broader ramifications for how other states and the federal government offer tax exemptions to religious nonprofit groups.

Wisconsin enacted its unemployment insurance program in 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression. As in most other states, the payments are funded either by regular contributions from employers or, in the optional case of some nonprofits, by reimbursing the state when the group lays off employees. Unemployed Wisconsinites are ineligible for benefits if they were laid off for factors like “misconduct,” which is adjudicated by the state.

The system allows certain religious organizations to claim an exemption from making payments into the unemployment fund. According to the state, the exemption is designed to prevent situations where the state would be adjudicating internal church workplace disputes, which may involve theological or doctrinal questions. To that end, the exemption covers “a church or convention of churches” as well as any “duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister of a church” who employs people to specifically further their ministry.

The third part of the exemption is much less narrow. Also covered is any organization “operated primarily for religious purposes” that is “operated, supervised, controlled, or principally supported by a church or convention or association of churches.” So what counts as an organization that is operated “primarily” for religious purposes? Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. says it falls under the exemption. (For clarity’s sake, I’ll refer to the organization just as “Catholic Charities,” even though it is only one star in the much larger galaxy of Catholic charities in general.)

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