The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 today that Wisconsin cannot discriminate against Catholic Charities Bureau of the Diocese of Superior because of its religiously motivated care for the poor, the elderly, and the disabled. In Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled last year that Catholic Charities’ ministry to the poor and needy was not “typical” religious activity. This meant that Catholic Charities could not join the Wisconsin Catholic Church’s unemployment compensation program but was stuck paying into the state’s less efficient and more costly plan (Watch this video to learn more). Represented by Becket, Catholic Charities asked the Justices in March to protect its freedom to join the Church program.
In the Supreme Court’s 9-0 decision today, Justice Sotomayor wrote that Wisconsin violated the Constitution by “impos[ing] a denominational preference by differentiating between religions based on theological choices.” Today’s decision further recognized that “whether to express and inculcate religious doctrine through worship, proselytization, or religious education when performing charitable work are, again, fundamentally theological choices driven by the content of different religious doctrines.”
“At the heart of Catholic Charities’ ministry is Christ’s call to care for the least of our brothers and sisters, without condition and without exception,” said Bishop James Powers, Bishop of the Diocese of Superior. “We’re grateful the Court unanimously recognized that improving the human condition by serving the poor is part of our religious exercise and has allowed us to continue serving those in need throughout our diocese and beyond.”
Most Catholic dioceses have a social ministry arm that serves those in need. Catholic Charities carries out this important work for the Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin, by helping the disabled, elderly, and those living in poverty—regardless of their faith. This belief that ministry to those in need should not be limited to Catholics flows directly from Catholic Social Teaching and is embodied in the Church’s “corporal works of mercy”—which include feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless.
Under Wisconsin law, nonprofits that are operated primarily for a religious purpose are generally exempt from the state’s unemployment compensation program. The Wisconsin Supreme Court, however, ruled that Catholic Charities was not exempt in part because it serves everyone, not just Catholics. The court said, however, that Catholic Charities could qualify for an exemption if it limited its hiring to Catholics and tried to convert those it served to Catholicism—even though the Catholic Church teaches that care for the poor cannot be conditioned on acceptance of the Church’s teachings.
“Wisconsin shouldn’t have picked this fight in the first place,” said Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket. “It was always absurd to claim that Catholic Charities wasn’t religious because it helps everyone, no matter their religion. Today, the Court resoundingly reaffirmed a fundamental truth of our constitutional order: the First Amendment protects all religious beliefs, not just those the government favors.”
Catholic Charities Bureau is also represented by Kyle H. Torvinen of Torvinen, Jones & Saunders, S.C., in Superior, Wisconsin.