In a victory for religious institutions, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned Wisconsin’s denial of unemployment tax exemption to a Catholic charity, stating that distinguishing among religions based on theological differences violates the First Amendment.
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TheSupremeCourtonThursdaysidedwithaWisconsin-basedCatholiccharitygroupinacasecenteredonunemploymenttaxcreditsforreligiousinstitutions–deliveringavictoryforfaith-basedinstitutions,whoarguedthatthestate’sdecisionhadviolatedthereligiousclausesundertheFirstAmendment.
Inaunanimousopinion,thejusticesagreedthatthestatehadengagedinan“unnecessaryentanglement”inattemptingtodefinewhetherreligiousgroupsshouldbeentitledtoanotherwise-availabletaxexemptionbasedonthestate’scriteriaforreligiousbehavior.
“Whenthegovernmentdistinguishesamongreligionsbasedontheologicaldifferencesintheirprovisionofservices,itimposesadenominationalpreferencethatmustsatisfythehighestlevelofjudicialscrutiny,”JusticeSoniaSotomayorsaid,writingforthemajority
