Wisconsin’s Lib Justices Wear Cheese Hats Today

Letter to Ephesians: Not to rub it in as the WSJ did, but it WAS amazing how US Sup Ct UNANIMOUSLY stuck it to Wisconsin’s 4-3 liberal majority in the recently decided Catholic Charities case upholding its nonprofit tax status. Even flaming liberal Sonia Sotomayor reversed her cheesy comrades.

As the newspaper’s editorial board quipped, the 9-0 ruling last week by the Justices shows “How far astray” the Badger State’s supposedly unbiased high court has gone from upholding the Rule of Law rather than pandering to its political ideologies. But the chastisement didn’t stop there: “Permit us to add a final thought,” the editors insisted, “which is that the 9-0 decision is a humiliation for the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s news 4-3 liberal majority.” The win for the fundamental constitutional right to religious liberty should have been a no brainer, even for those liberals. As the WSJ points out, “the state jurists had denied a religious tax exemption to a local diocese’s Catholic Charities Bureau” on the bogus theory its activities were “secular in nature” and didn’t involve teaching the faith. Never mind that nearly every religious group conducts non-religious outreach like Catholic Charities in the name of GOOD DEEDS or simply out of the kindness of their hearts. Certainly, all those other religious subsidiaries or associated groups don’t forfeit their tax-exempt status because, besides advancing their core missions, engage in good neighborly stuff as well. 

As Justice Sotomayor explained in her opinion for the unanimous reversal: “If a state law treats two religious soup kitchens differently, depending on the amount of prayer & proselytizing before lunch, that’s a violation of the First Amendment.” 

Davd Soul