MADISON, Wis. (BP) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled against the State of Wisconsin on Monday (Dec. 15) as the state attorney general tried for a second time to strip a Catholic-based organization from its non-profit status.
The Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission’s previously ruled that the Catholic Charities Bureau (CCB) and its four sub-entities, which provide various social services to a diversity of needy communities, do not operate for religious purposes and don’t qualify for an exemption from the state’s unemployment insurance program.
The CCB, the social ministry arm of the Diocese of Superior in Wisconsin, challenged the ruling all the way to U.S. Supreme Court.
The High Court ruled unanimously June 5 that the Catholic Charities Bureau (CCB) qualifies for the same tax exemption granted to churches.
However, the state initially refused to abide by the ruling, with the attorney general going so far as to call for eliminating the tax exemption altogether. Becket, the religious liberty firm representing CCB, appealed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in October.
“Attorney General Kaul never should have doubled down on punishing churches. The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s order today protects not just Catholic Charities, but every faith-based organization that relies on this exemption to serve the public,” said Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, in a statement Dec. 15. “It turns out that penalizing charities is not a winning legal strategy,”
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission joined with 11 faith groups in February to file an amicus brief in the U.S Supreme Court case.
“In Constitutional law, there are few things as decisive as a unanimous ruling by the United States Supreme Court. The judges in Wisconsin recognized this, ruled against the state’s attempted end-around, and set a precedent that state courts everywhere are apt to follow,” said ERLC Chief of Staff Miles Mullin.
In its statement Monday, Becket said: “Attorney General Kaul asked Wisconsin’s high court to consider axing the exemption entirely – undermining a key religious exemption relied on by faith-based organizations across the state.”
Mullin said the decision should bolster confidence in the court’s willingness to protect religious liberty.
“This is a good ruling by the Wisconsin Supreme Court and, at a time when trust of our cultural institutions is low, it is encouraging to see that the judicial system worked,” he told Baptist Press, “ultimately protecting the right of religious people to participate in a state-offered benefit in a manner consistent with their beliefs.”