{"id":2443692,"date":"2025-06-06T07:15:02","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T11:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-big-win-for-religious-liberties-supreme-court-unanimously-rules-in-favor-of-catholic-charities\/"},"modified":"2025-06-06T07:17:52","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T11:17:52","slug":"a-big-win-for-religious-liberties-supreme-court-unanimously-rules-in-favor-of-catholic-charities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-big-win-for-religious-liberties-supreme-court-unanimously-rules-in-favor-of-catholic-charities\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;A Big Win for Religious Liberties&#8217;: Supreme Court Unanimously Rules in Favor of Catholic Charities"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fa-big-win-for-religious-liberties-supreme-court-unanimously-rules-in-favor-of-catholic-charities%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2443692&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The recent ruling by the Supreme Court was a important victory for Catholic Charities Bureau,which successfully argued for the right to opt out of Wisconsin&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-2025-major-cases-to-watch-on-tiktok-free-speech-guns-and-more-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"... 2025: Major cases to watch on TikTok, free speech, guns, and more - Washington Examiner\">unemployment compensation system<\/a>. The state had denied this request,claiming the organization did not engage in sufficiently religious work.However, the Court unanimously supported Catholic charities, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor emphasizing the need for governmental neutrality towards religious organizations under the First Amendment. This case holds national implications as it could affect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-bill-cassidy-is-the-lefts-useful-idiot-on-abortion\/\" title=\"Sen. Bill Cassidy is a pawn of the left when it comes to abortion.\">religiously affiliated entities<\/a> like hospitals that do not perform explicitly religious functions. Supporters of the ruling hailed it as a triumph for religious liberty, arguing that the government should not dictate what constitutes religious activity.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court hasn&rsquo;t always been kind to religious groups this term, but a unanimous ruling handed down Thursday is a different story.<\/p>\n<p>In an unqualified triumph, the Catholic Charities Bureau won the court&rsquo;s support to opt out of Wisconsin&rsquo;s unemployment compensation system &mdash; a privilege the state had denied because it deemed the group&rsquo;s work wasn&rsquo;t religious enough, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/supreme-court-sides-catholic-charities-142101413.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Even Justice Sonya Sotomayor, a key part of the court&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/justice-sotomayor-reality-liberal-conservative-court-live-frustration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">minority liberal wing<\/a>, wasn&rsquo;t buying that argument. Wisconsin, she wrote, was violating the First Amendment.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It is fundamental to our constitutional order that the government maintain &lsquo;neutrality between religion and religion,&rsquo;&rdquo; Sotomayor wrote in the conclusion of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/24pdf\/24-154_2b82.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the ruling<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There may be hard calls to make in policing that rule, but this is not one.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Wisconsin claimed Catholic Charities was not exempt from paying into the Badger State&rsquo;s unemployment system because it has been a part of the system for half a century, and because its day-to-day services don&rsquo;t <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/oklahoma-approves-nations-first-religious-charter-school\/\" title=\"First ... charter school approved in Oklahoma.\">include religious instruction<\/a> and are not limited to those of the Roman Catholic faith.<\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/06\/05\/politics\/supreme-court-backs-catholic-charities-push-to-object-to-state-taxes-on-religious-grounds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CNN noted<\/a>, churches are exempt from unemployment taxes, &ldquo;so the question for the justices was, in essence, whether religiously affiliated entities that don&rsquo;t perform traditionally religious functions &mdash; such as services &mdash; should also qualify.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Catholic Charities, however, argued that its activities &ldquo;are motivated by religious beliefs and that the state shouldn&rsquo;t be making determinations about what work qualifies as religious,&rdquo; the AP reported.<\/p>\n<p>The case has national implications, the AP noted, considering the number of major employers, such as hospitals, that have church affiliations.<\/p>\n<p>In a post on the social media platform X, Republican Kentucky <a href=\"https:\/\/www.votetjroberts.com\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">State Rep. T.J. Roberts<\/a>, himself a veteran of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/federal-court-rules-dem-governor-shut-churches-covid-pandemic-must-pay\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">religious liberty court battles<\/a>, called the ruling &ldquo;A BIG WIN for Religious Liberty.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">BIG WIN for Religious Liberty<\/p>\n<p>The Wisconsin Supreme Court tried to deny Catholic Charities a tax exemption offered to ALL religious institutions because Catholic Charities is willing to provide charity to non-Catholics.<\/p>\n<p>They singled out Catholicism, and SCOTUS unanimously&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/19O3izRoAW\">pic.twitter.com\/19O3izRoAW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; TJ Roberts (@realTJRoberts) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realTJRoberts\/status\/1930631341525115307?\">June 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Catholic Charities was represented in the case by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a law firm with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-conservatives-celebrate-scotus-defends-religious-freedoms-twice-one-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">history of battling<\/a> for the rights of religious groups.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/becketfund.org\/media\/supreme-court-protects-catholic-charities-mission-to-serve\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news release<\/a>, Becket Vice President and Senior Counsel Eric Rassbach said, &ldquo;Wisconsin shouldn&rsquo;t have picked this fight in the first place.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It was always absurd to claim that Catholic Charities wasn&rsquo;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.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Alliance Defending Freedom, another law firm that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/christian-teacher-gets-6-figure-last-laugh-school-forced-refusing-use-trans-pronouns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fights for religious rights<\/a>, filed a brief in support of Catholic Charities.<\/p>\n<p>In a news release, John Bursch, ADF vice president and senior counsel for appellate advocacy, said that &ldquo;government has no business second-guessing the way a faith organization lives out its ministry.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When the government distinguishes among religions based on theological differences in their provision of services, it unconstitutionally entangles church and state &mdash; at the expense of ministries that live out their faith, at least in part, through serving their communities,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Religious ministries that aid a diverse range of people outside their congregations are still engaged in religious activity, and we applaud the court for upholding these core First Amendment freedoms unanimously.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Thursday&rsquo;s win for the group came after another Catholic entity hoping to establish a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >publicly funded charter school<\/a> in Oklahoma ended up on the losing side after the Supreme Court deadlocked in a 4-4 vote.<\/p>\n<p>That left in place an Oklahoma court ruling that prevented the planned St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School from being approved, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/nation\/supreme-court-4-4-vote-ends-oklahomas-taxpayer-funded-catholic-charter-school\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PBS<\/a>. The tie vote was possible because Supreme Court Justice Amy Comey Barrett recused herself from the case. She gave no reason for doing so, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2025\/04\/30\/supreme-court-amy-coney-barrett-charter-school\/83370770007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USA Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As the AP reported, a third highly anticipated ruling from the court this term concerns the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/leather-underwear-drag-king-parents-challenging-books-pushing-sex-kindergarteners-get-supreme-court-hearing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rights of religious parents<\/a> when it comes to being allowed to pull their children out of classes that feature sexually charged material.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Court has not been particularly favorable to religious groups this term, but a unanimous decision issued on Thursday marked a significant exception. The Catholic Charities Bureau successfully gained the court&#8217;s backing to exempt itself from Wisconsin&#8217;s unemployment compensation system-a privilege previously denied by the state, which argued that the group&#8217;s work lacked sufficient religious character. Justice Sonya Sotomayor, part of the court&#8217;s liberal minority, disagreed with this reasoning, stating that Wisconsin was infringing upon First Amendment rights. She emphasized that it is essential for the government to remain neutral among different religions and asserted that this case was straightforward in its application of that principle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2443693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Sotomayor.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[46770,36794,56651,32275],"class_list":["post-2443692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-catholic-charities","tag-legal-ruling","tag-religious-liberties","tag-supreme-court"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Sotomayor.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2443692"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2443696,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443692\/revisions\/2443696"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2443693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2443692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2443692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2443692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}