High Court Hears Challenge to WisconsinInterpretation of Religious Employer Exemption

The Supreme Court heard oral argument in case 24154, Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission, over whether Wisconsinlaw may exclude certain church-affiliated charities from a religious-employer exemption modeled on the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA).

At argument, counsel for Catholic Charities Bureau, Mister Rothbach, told the justices that the Wisconsin Supreme Court erred by reading the state exemption to exclude organizations that do not engage in "typical religious activity" such as public worship or proselytizing. "This case is not complicated," Rothbach said, arguing that "the constitution doesn't allow courts" to discriminate among religions by judging which religious activities count as "religious." He urged the Court to rule that once a statutory exemption exists, it must be applied evenhandedly and not along theological lines.

The stateand its advocate, Mister Gannon, defended Wisconsin's approach as a prophylactic, anti-entanglement rule aimed at avoiding state adjudication of disputes that would require courts or agencies to resolve religious doctrine. Gannon told the Court Wisconsin enacted an exemption targeted to employers most likely to force…