The Supreme Court is hearing two cases in the coming months that question whether the government can refuse to back religious entities or deny them exemptions under the First Amendment of the Constitution.
In one case, Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond, the court is reviewing whether the state wrongly denied a Catholic school admission into its charter school program. Another, Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission, involves a charity’s challenge to the state’s decision not to exempt it from an unemployment benefits law.
Both cases touch on the establishment and free exercise clauses of the First Amendment, which together read: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
The Catholic Charities case, which is set for oral argument on March 31, questions whether the state of Wisconsin violated the First Amendment by refusing to grant the organization a tax exemption for unemployment benefits.
The dispute centers on the constitution but also the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, which exempts organizations from paying unemployment tax if they are operated primarily for religious purposes. At the state level, Wisconsin enacted a similar law with a similarly worded exemption.
‘Entanglement’
Last year, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled against Catholic Charities, stating that it was not operated primarily for religious purposes and therefore didn’t qualify for the usual religious tax exemption under state law. It added that the refusal of the tax exemption by the state did not violate the First Amendment.
According to Catholic Charities, the state supreme court’s decision violated the group’s First Amendment rights by entangling courts in religious questions, discriminating among religious groups, and intruding on church autonomy. They said the state was “second-guessing a church’s answers to religious questions—including what constitutes religious activity.” Its charitable activities are an extension of its Catholic beliefs, the group said.
question whether a particular expression of faith is sufficiently ‘religious.’”
In November, the Wisconsin Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court not to take up the case and argued that the Wisconsin Supreme Court didn’t discriminate or intrude on church autonomy. It also said the state supreme court didn’t overstep its authority by inquiring about Catholic Charities’ beliefs.
