{"id":2521621,"date":"2025-12-16T07:29:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T12:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wi-supreme-court-ends-dem-ags-bid-to-defy-scotus-ruling\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T07:30:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T12:30:04","slug":"wi-supreme-court-ends-dem-ags-bid-to-defy-scotus-ruling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wi-supreme-court-ends-dem-ags-bid-to-defy-scotus-ruling\/","title":{"rendered":"WI Supreme Court Ends Dem AG&#8217;s Bid To &#8216;Defy&#8217; SCOTUS Ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/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%2Fwi-supreme-court-ends-dem-ags-bid-to-defy-scotus-ruling%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=2521621&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>Teh wisconsin Supreme Court has blocked the state&#8217;s Democratic attorney general&#8217;s attempt to circumvent a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving the Catholic Charities Bureau (CCB), a Wisconsin-based religious organization. The court affirmed that CCB and its sub-entities qualify for a religious exemption from contributing to Wisconsin&#8217;s unemployment insurance system, reversing previous state-level denials.This follows a unanimous June decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which found that Wisconsin&#8217;s refusal to grant the exemption violated the First Amendment&#8217;s requirement for government neutrality toward religion. Despite the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cuomo-must-resign-if-cover-up-of-nursing-home-deaths-proven-stefanik\/\" title=\"Cuomo Must Resign If \u2018Cover-Up\u2019 of Nursing Home Deaths Proven: Stefanik\">state attorney general&#8217;<\/a>s efforts to challenge the exemption and seek alternative remedies, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ordered that CCB be granted the exemption as directed by the higher court. Advocates view this decision as a important victory for religious freedom and for faith-based organizations relying on similar exemptions.  <\/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<div>\n<p>The Wisconsin Supreme Court blocked a bid by the state&rsquo;s Democrat attorney general to effectively sidestep a U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving a Wisconsin-based Catholic charity.<\/p>\n<p>In its Monday order, the Badger State&rsquo;s highest court <a href=\"https:\/\/becketnewsite.s3.amazonaws.com\/20251215124224\/CCB-Wisconsin-Supreme-Court-Order.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">affirmed<\/a> that the Catholic Charities Bureau (CCB) and its sub-entities are eligible for a sought-after tax exemption status that would allow them to not contribute to Wisconsin&rsquo;s unemployment system. The decision came months after SCOTUS handed down its ruling on the matter, which favored the Christian organization.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;d think Wisconsin would take a 9-0 Supreme Court loss as a hint to stop digging,&rdquo; Becket Fund for Religious Liberty Vice President and Senior Counsel Eric Rassbach said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/becketfund.org\/media\/wisconsin-high-court-ends-states-crusade-against-catholic-charities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statement<\/a>. &ldquo;But apparently Attorney General Kaul and his staff are gluttons for punishment. Thankfully, the Wisconsin Supreme Court put an end to the state&rsquo;s tomfoolery and confirmed that Catholic Charities is entitled to the exemption it already won.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>CCB first <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/24\/after-losing-at-scotus-wisconsin-finds-a-new-way-to-target-catholic-charities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pursued<\/a> the exemption in 2016 but was repeatedly denied in the years that followed by the state and ultimately, the Wisconsin court system. In rejecting the group&rsquo;s exemption request, the Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed with the state&rsquo;s claim that the CCB doesn&rsquo;t qualify because it didn&rsquo;t establish that it operates for a primarily religious purpose.<\/p>\n<p>The case eventually made its way to SCOTUS, which <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/06\/05\/scotus-wisconsin-supreme-court-violated-a-catholic-charitys-first-amendment-rights\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">determined<\/a> in June that the Wisconsin Supreme Court&rsquo;s &ldquo;application of [existing law] to petitioners violates the First Amendment.&rdquo; Writing for a unanimous court, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/24pdf\/24-154_2b82.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted<\/a> that &ldquo;It is fundamental to our constitutional order that the government maintain &lsquo;neutrality between religion and religion,&#8217;&rdquo; and that while &ldquo;[t]here may be hard calls to make in policing that rule &hellip; this is not one.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In reversing the Wisconsin Supreme Court&rsquo;s decision, the high court remanded the case back to the state&rsquo;s judicial system &ldquo;for further proceedings not inconsistent with [its] opinion.&rdquo; While the CCB&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >legal team previously told<\/a> The Federalist such directives &ldquo;typically mean[] that you do the opposite of whatever the Wisconsin Supreme Court did&rdquo; (i.e. to grant CCB the exemption), Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul seemingly had other ideas. <\/p>\n<p>A month after the Supreme Court&rsquo;s ruling, the Badger State Democrat asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to hold additional briefing in the case to decide how to remedy the situation. Despite protests from the CCB, Wisconsin Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/24\/after-losing-at-scotus-wisconsin-finds-a-new-way-to-target-catholic-charities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">granted<\/a> the request in September and instructed parties to file briefs &ldquo;regarding the appropriate remedial measures.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>In its brief, Kaul&rsquo;s team argued that rather than grant CCB the exemption it was seeking, the Wisconsin Supreme should throw out the exemption altogether. They specifically claimed, &ldquo;This remedy, although it means Catholic Charities would remain subject to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/californias-employment-department-listed-as-high-risk-by-state-auditor-after-losing-20-billion-to-fraud\/\" title=\"California&#039;s Employment Department labeled &#039;high risk&#039; by state auditor due to  billion lost to fraud.\">state unemployment insurance system<\/a>, &lsquo;fully addresses [the] First Amendment injury&rsquo; that lies &lsquo;at the heart of [this] suit.&#8217;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In its Monday <a href=\"https:\/\/becketnewsite.s3.amazonaws.com\/20251215124224\/CCB-Wisconsin-Supreme-Court-Order.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">order<\/a>, the Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected that proposal. The court said that, in light of SCOTUS&rsquo; reversal of its prior decision, it has determined &ldquo;that Catholic Charities et al. is eligible for the religious purposes exemption to unemployment taxation under [Wisconsin law].&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;IT IS ORDERED that this matter is remanded to the circuit court with instructions to vacate [the state&rsquo;s] decisions and to remand the matter to [the state] with direction to declare Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. and its sub-entities involved in this case eligible for the religious purposes exemption to unemployment taxation under [Wisconsin statute],&rdquo; the order reads. <\/p>\n<p>In his <a href=\"https:\/\/becketfund.org\/media\/wisconsin-high-court-ends-states-crusade-against-catholic-charities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statement<\/a>, Rassbach hailed Monday&rsquo;s ruling as a major win that &ldquo;protects not just Catholic Charities, but every <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">faith-based organization<\/a> that relies on this exemption to serve the public.&rdquo; He additionally chastised Kaul, who he argued &ldquo;never should have doubled down on punishing churches.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Wisconsin should have taken the L,&rdquo; Rassbach said. &ldquo;It turns out that penalizing charities is not a winning legal strategy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wisconsin court blocks AG&#8217;s bid to bypass SCOTUS ruling<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2521622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Wisconsin-Supreme-Corut.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[32116,32869,6994,32275,4124],"class_list":["post-2521621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-attorney-general","tag-legal-battle","tag-scotus","tag-supreme-court","tag-wisconsin"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Wisconsin-Supreme-Corut.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2521621","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\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2521621"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2521621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2521625,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2521621\/revisions\/2521625"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2521622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2521621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2521621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2521621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}