Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Summary Companies Lower court ruled against Catholic diocese organization Trump administration backs Catholic group’s appeal It is latest religious rights case at US Supreme Court WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court is set on Monday to hear a bid by an arm of a Catholic diocese in Wisconsin for a religious exemption from the state’s unemployment insurance tax in the latest religious rights case to reach the justices. The Catholic Charities Bureau – a nonprofit corporation operating as the social ministry arm of the Catholic diocese in the city of Superior – and four entities that the bureau oversees have appealed a lower court’s decision rejecting their tax exemption bid. Sign up here. At issue is whether the denial of the tax exemption violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment guarantee of free exercise of religion, as well as its separation of church and state. The Supreme Court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, has taken an expansive view of religious rights in a series of rulings in recent years. President Donald Trump ‘s administration is supporting the Catholic Charities Bureau and the other challengers in the appeal. During the Great Depression, […]

By : Markus McDowell