We will hear argument first this morning in case 24-154 Catholic Charities Bureau versus the Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission.

Mr. Rossbach.

Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court, this case is not complicated.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court got it wrong when it interpreted a state law religious exemption

to favor what it called typical religious activity and when it held that helping the poor

can't be religious because secular people help the poor too. To resolve this case, this court need

do nothing more than say that the Constitution doesn't allow courts to do that. That conclusion

breaks no new doctrinal ground, and most courts have no difficulty applying religious

exemptions constitutionally. The problem here is that Wisconsin draws distinctions along theological

lines, something that this court has repeatedly forbidden. Wisconsin compares its rule to the ministerial exception, but Wisconsin's rule would be

equally unconstitutional in the ministerial exception context.

No court would hold that clergy who preach on Saturday are not ministers because preaching

on Sunday is more typical.

Nor would any court hold that a religious leader who helps the poor isn't a minister because secular leaders help the poor too.

By that measure, Mother Teresa might not qualify.

In short, there is nothing wrong with the statutory text here or with how most legislatures and courts deal with religious accommodations.

The problem is how the Wisconsin Supreme Court applied the religious

purposes exemption. I welcome the Court's questions.

Can the State impose any limits on exemptions for religious organizations?

Absolutely, Your Honor. We're asking only here that they not be discriminated along theological lines.

So we're not saying that, you know, if you have a religious motivation, you get a religious

exemption no matter what the issue is.

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