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CV NEWS FEED // Baptists and several other religious groups are supporting a Wisconsin branch of Catholic Charities in a lawsuit in which the organization argues it should be tax exempt from Wisconsin’s unemployment insurance program due to its religious affiliation.
Baptist Press reported that The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) filed an amicus brief in the case Feb. 4, which is currently before the Supreme Court. As CatholicVote previously reported, the case centers around the state’s refusal to let Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior opt out of the state’s unemployment insurance program and instead join a different unemployment program offered by Wisconsin’s bishops.
“The state court ruled [in March 2024] that Catholic Charities was not exempt from the state’s unemployment compensation program ‘because it serves everyone, not just Catholics,’” CatholicVote reported.
Baptist Press reported that the ERLC urged the Supreme Court in its amicus brief to settle the case in Catholic Charities’ favor, citing religious freedom.
“It is not right for the government to prescribe religious practice or compel a religious group to conform to its standards of what qualifies as ‘real’ religion,” ERLC Vice President Miles Mullin said, according to Baptist Press. “In fact, the state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind.”
Mullin also added that the state cannot stipulate how religious groups “choose to fulfill their mission.”
“The government has no competency to judge such matters,” he stated. “That judgment must be left to God.”
Baptist Press reported that 10 other religious groups — including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the United Methodist Church, the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America — joined the amicus brief.
The groups argued that if the Supreme Court ruled against Catholic Charities, it would harm them too. They said they “would be severely undermined if the First Amendment allowed the government to second-guess their decisions on matters of church government such as a religion’s organizational structure or employment or service decisions.”
Ohio is leading the following states in supporting the plaintiffs: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
The Supreme Court is reportedly expected to rule on the case this spring.
