CASE PREVIEW

Supreme Court considers Catholic charity group’s bid for tax exemption

With most of the 2024-25 term behind them, the justices’ final stretch of oral arguments is stacked with all three religious rights cases of the year. All three cases look to the justices to take up an expansive view of the Constitution’s religious protections. The first of those cases, on Monday, could significantly shift the bounds of which organizations receive religious tax exemptions. In the other two, on April 22 and 30, the court will consider whether parents can opt to have their children excused from instruction with LGBTQ-themed storybooks, on religious grounds, and whether a Catholic online school can become the country’s first religious charter school. 

At oral arguments on Monday, the court will take up a tax dispute between Wisconsin and Catholic Charities, which is a social ministry arm of each Roman Catholic diocese in Wisconsin. One Catholic Charities chapter contends that Wisconsin violated the Constitution when it rejected the group’s application for an exemption from a state unemployment tax that the state gives to churches, religious schools, and some religious groups.

EMERGENCY DOCKET

States call on justices to leave restored teacher training funds in place

Eight states, led by California, on Friday urged the Supreme Court to leave in place an order by a federal judge in Massachusetts that requires the Department of Education to restore more than $65 million in grants, intended to address teacher shortages, that it ended in February because the funded programs included diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

In a 40-page filing, the states told the justices that there was no reason for them to intervene. “Because the district court acted responsibly — entering a narrow and time-limited restraining order to preserve the status quo while moving rapidly to adjudicate” the state’s request for a preliminary injunction, the government cannot appeal the district court’s order, the states argue, and the government’s appeal will in any event be moot (that is, no longer a live controversy) by early April.

WHAT WE'RE READING

The morning read for Friday, March 28

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles and commentary related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Friday morning read:

• Trump administration asks Supreme Court to intervene in case over canceled DEI-related grants (Melissa Quinn, CBS News)
• Trump wants to ‘defund’ Planned Parenthood. The Supreme Court will hear a case aimed at that. (Shefali Luthra, The 19th News)
• Trump administration asks Supreme Court to let it cut teacher training grants (Maureen Groppe & Bart Jansen, USA Today)
• Supreme Court faces Guantanamo test again: Does president’s power have limits? (David G. Savage, The Los Angeles Times)
• If Trump Defies the Courts, It Will Backfire Badly (Ankush Khardori, Politico) 

ARGUMENT ANALYSIS

Justices appear likely to uphold FCC telecom access subsidy

The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed poised to uphold the federal program that provides schools, libraries, and underserved areas with access to affordable telephone and high-speed internet services. A conservative consumer advocacy group challenged the program, arguing it violated the Constitution by outsourcing Congress’s power to the Federal Communications Commission and a private nonprofit corporation that helps to administer the program. But after nearly three hours of oral arguments, justices across the bench were skeptical of the group’s claims.

Congress created the Universal Service Fund as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to ensure that all U.S. residents and businesses – including schools, libraries, and rural health care providers – have access to the same kinds of telephone and internet services at roughly the same rate. The Universal Service Administrative Company, a nonprofit created by the FCC, helps to administer the fund. Contributions by telecommunications carriers to the fund are calculated each quarter, and the carriers pass those costs on to their customers.

WHAT WE'RE READING

The morning read for Thursday, March 27

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles and commentary related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Thursday morning read:

• Supreme Court seems likely to OK $8 billion phone and internet subsidy for rural, low-income areas (Mark Sherman, The Associated Press)
• US Supreme Court leans toward preserving FCC fund for phone, broadband access (John Kruzel, Reuters)
• Supreme Court upholds Biden regulations on ‘ghost gun’ kits (Lawrence Hurley, NBC News)
• Trump administration asks Supreme Court to freeze dozens of teacher training grants (John Fritze, CNN)
• What Executive Orders Can (and Can’t) Do (Steve Vladeck, One First)