Washington D.C., June 5, 2025 — In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that Wisconsin’s qualifications for religious tax exemptions were in violation of the First Amendment protection of freedom of religion.
In 2016, the Catholic Charities Bureau, a ministry of the Diocese of Superior of the Catholic Church, requested a religious tax exemption in order to pay into a religious-based unemployment program. However, the Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Board denied the request, determining that Catholic Charities’ activity was not religious enough to be considered for the religious tax exemption. In Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor & Review Industry Commission, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision that assessed organizations for their religiosity.
The ERLC partnered with the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention and other religious organizations to make a strong religious liberty argument before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. That court’s ruling was then appealed to the Supreme Court, where the ERLC engaged again by filing an amicus brief in defense of religious liberty.
Brent Leatherwood, president of the ERLC, commented on the court’s decision:
“When the state tries to define what constitutes religious ministry and activity, it is not only working well beyond its boundaries, it is trampling all over the First Amendment. This is the main takeaway from today’s unanimous Supreme Court decision; one that should hearten Southern Baptists and anyone who cares about our fundamental freedoms. This case involved an egregious attempt in Wisconsin to dictate how religious organizations should be structured or what the outworkings of their faith should look like.
“Southern Baptists will rightly understand this ruling affirms what we know to be true: that we need to be able to freely share the gospel and live out the tenets of our faith—like offering a hot meal to someone in need, a stable home for vulnerable children, or a helping hand to those in disaster zones—without fear of being bullied into adopting the government’s erroneous view of what that should look like.”
This is one of five Supreme Court cases the ERLC actively engaged in, addressing issues that Southern Baptists care most about in the areas of life, religious liberty, marriage and family, and human dignity.
The ERLC will continue working to defend religious liberty for all people. More information on this case can be found here.
