Supreme Court grills Wisconsin attorney on Catholic Charities case
April 01, 2025
» Continue to this story on New York Times
CWN Editor's Note: In March 31 oral arguments in the case of Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin, US Supreme Court justices seemed likely to rule against a state determination that Catholic Charities does not qualify as a religious organization.
Wisconsin courts had affirmed the judgment of the state’s Labor and Industry Review Commission that Catholic Charities did not qualify for a religious exemption from unemployment taxes because the bureau did not “attempt to imbue program participants with the Catholic faith.” Several Supreme Court justices questioned the logic of that ruling.
Justice Elena Kagan observed that some religions require proselytism, while others do not. “Why are we treating some religions better than others on that element of religious doctrine,” she asked. Justice Amy Coney Barrett—who often differs with Justice Kagan—agreed: “Judaism does not have that as part of its religion. So does that mean that Judaism is completely disqualified from getting the exemption when they’re running these sorts of organizations?”
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