The Supreme Court announced on Thursday that a Roman Catholic charity is not required to pay Wisconsin unemployment taxes, a part of the religious-rights cases being evaluated this term by the justices.
The unanimous decision was made in response to a case brought by the Catholic Charities Bureau, asserting that the state’s imposition of the tax violated the religious freedom guarantee under the First Amendment.
The big picture: The organization argued that it was unfair for the state to mandate the tax payment from them while exempting other religious groups.
- While Wisconsin contended that the charity had been paying the tax for more than fifty years and lacked eligibility for an exemption due to the secular nature of its daily operations, Catholic Charities argued that its disability services were inspired by religious beliefs.
- The organization refuted the state’s authority to determine what constitutes religious work.
- The charity appealed to the Supreme Court after facing an adverse ruling from Wisconsin’s highest court.
- The Trump administration expressed its support for Catholic Charities during the court proceedings.
