Catholic Charities of Superior has asked the US Supreme Court to overturn a decision of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and recognize that its care for the poor, the elderly, and the disabled is part of its religious mission. Earlier this year the state Supreme Court ruled four to three that Catholic Charities’ service to the poor and needy did not count as “typical” religious activities and therefore did not meet the requirements for a religious exemption from participating in the state’s unemployment compensation program.
Our organization was part of a friend-of-the-court brief in the case before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. We and other private religious, non-church entities argued that the state has no right to determine what constitutes religious activities. Hopefully, the US Supreme Court will rectify this egregious and ominous decision.
