Washington Post: Supreme Court appears supportive of tax exemption for Catholic Charities
The Wisconsin Catholic Charities case has implications for other religiously connected nonprofits, including hospitals, and for state unemployment systems.
Supreme Court justices from across the ideological spectrum expressed deep concern Monday about the denial of a state tax exemption for Catholic Charities on the grounds that the nonprofit is not “operated primarily for religious purposes.”
During a nearly two-hour argument that touched on theology and philosophy, a majority of justices appeared ready to reverse a Wisconsin state court ruling that denied Catholic Charities the tax exemptions that the Catholic Church and other religious institutions receive.
Liberal Justice Elena Kagan and conservative Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, among others, emphasized that courts should not be in the business of second-guessing which activities count as religious, and suggested that the state had impermissibly discriminated based on religion.
The high court’s decision could reach beyond Wisconsin and affect how other states and the federal government consider eligibility for similar exemptions for other religiously connected organizations, including for hundreds of thousands of health-care workers at Catholic-affiliated hospitals.
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