Growing up, I had heard about Al Capone, the high-profile, Chicago-based crime boss who violently capitalized on bootlegging during Prohibition. When I became a reporter in Hot Springs, I became aware of a certain tourist-town pride that "Big Al" once owned a suite in the still-renowned Arlington Hotel. He enjoyed, without creating any criminal havoc, the horse races at Oaklawn and the town famous for its thermal baths and illegal gambling. The 1987 film "The Untouchables" dramatized the federal pursuit of Capone, who controlled much of Chicago, its criminal world, law enforcement and politicians. It was then I finally realized Capone’s reign was brought to an end not because he was found guilty of murder or extortion, but because he was convicted of a failure to pay taxes on the millions of dollars his illicit activities generated. Capone may seem a strange introduction to a column about religious freedom. His story reflects how government doesn’t always get what it wants by direct means but will often chip away at a goal — if they can’t get it directly, they’ll look for a workaround that has the same effect. The Supreme Court last week voted 7-2 to bar the federal […]
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