Wisconsin Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments Regarding Charitable Arm of Religious Organization

Wednesday, September 13th, 2023 -- 1:00 PM

(Rich Kremer, Wisconsin Public Radio) On its first day of oral arguments since liberals took control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, justices questioned whether a charitable arm of the Catholic Diocese of Superior should be exempt from paying into Wisconsin's unemployment insurance system. 

According to Rich Kremer with Wisconsin Public Radio, Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. argues its social welfare programs throughout Wisconsin are operated primarily for religious purposes and should be exempted from state unemployment insurance payments.

In 2015, a Douglas County Circuit court judge exempted Challenge Center, Inc., a Catholic Charities subsidiary helping people with developmental disabilities, from having to pay into the state plan.

The Catholic Charities Bureau, or CCB, argues its other subsidiaries should also receive an exemption allowing them to pay into a church-run unemployment program. A circuit court agreed in 2020. 

Two years later, a state appeals court overturned the ruling and sided with the Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission, which argues while the diocese operates the CCB, the activities it performs, including offering low-income housing, assistance for the elderly and disability services, aren't expressly religious in nature.

During the first day of oral arguments before the court, operating under a liberal majority for the first time in 15 years, justices took different approaches when questioning attorneys representing the Catholic Charities Bureau and state. 

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