Dave Yost leads brief defending religious charity from government interference

COLUMBUS — Led by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, 19 state attorneys general are opposing a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision that lets the government draw the line between religious and nonreligious practices, with Yost and his counterparts saying the ruling intrudes on the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of religion.
 
“The power to define religion is the power to destroy it,” Yost said. “Our Constitution guards against government interference on religion, and few maneuvers are as intrusive as the government taking it upon itself to define religious practice.”   
 
In an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, the attorneys general challenge the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling that denied a religious charity’s request for an exemption from unemployment taxes. Religious nonprofits are generally exempt from such taxes under Wisconsin law.
 
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the activities performed by the organization, Catholic Charities Bureau, are not sufficiently religious, in part, because the group offers services to all people, regardless of religion, and because the same charitable services could be provided by secular organizations. As the charitable arm for the Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin, Catholic Charities Bureau serves vulnerable community members, including the poor, disabled and elderly.
 
The attorneys general argue that the ruling runs afoul of the Constitution: “The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision to determine what constitutes religious practice — and exclude acts of charity — is a governmental intrusion that violates both the First Amendment’s establishment and free-exercise safeguards as originally understood.”
 
The U.S. Supreme Court has long understood the Constitution to forbid government intrusion into religion, the brief says, noting the dangerous precedent set by the Wisconsin ruling.
 
“If any religious activity, no matter how deeply rooted in doctrine and practice, becomes secular the moment the nonreligious adopt it, then no religious exercise is safe from government regulation,” the attorneys general write.  
 
Joining Yost in the amicus brief are the attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.