US Supreme Court Grants Certiorari Petition Authored by Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation Religious Liberty Clinic Director Eric Rassbach and Pepperdine Caruso Law Alumnus Colten Stanberry (JD '19)

The US Supreme Court granted certiorari in the case Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission. The petition for certiorari was authored by two members of the Pepperdine Caruso Law community: Eric Rassbach, visiting professor and director of the Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation Religious Liberty Clinic and Pepperdine Caruso Law alumnus Colten Stanberry (JD ‘19). 

Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel, and Stanberry, counsel, are both members of the legal team at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty representing the Catholic Charities Bureau before the Supreme Court. At issue in the case is whether the state has violated the First Amendment’s Religion Clauses by denying a religious organization an otherwise-available tax exemption because the organization does not meet the state’s criteria for religious behavior.

Rassbach, in a statement on December 13, criticized the state’s unconstitutional refusal to extend the tax exemption to his clients: “Wisconsin is trying to make sure no good deed goes unpunished. Penalizing Catholic Charities for serving Catholics and non-Catholics alike is ridiculous and wrong.”

Stanberry reflected on how his time at Pepperdine Caruso Law prepared him for his important work at the Becket Fund, advocating on behalf of religious liberty: “I remain so grateful for how my Pepperdine education prepared me to fight on behalf of religious liberty in the courts and beyond.”

The Supreme Court will hear the case later this term, which will be a significant decision about the scope of autonomy and religious liberty afforded religious institutions.

Excerpt from Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission Petition for Certiorari:

The split is thus unfinished business. And as the decision of the Wisconsin Supreme Court in this case shows, it is a split that is growing. The Wisconsin Supreme Court recognized the split and weighed in, concluding that Catholic Charities, the separately incorporated charitable arm of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Superior, was not “operated primarily for religious purposes.” Acknowledging that Catholic Charities undertakes its charitable activities because of its sincerely held religious beliefs and to carry out the religious mission the bishop has given it, the court nevertheless held that Catholic Charities’ activities have no religious purpose because those activities are not, in that court’s view, “typical” for a religious organization. The Wisconsin Supreme Court thought it atypical of religion that Catholic Charities does not “attempt to imbue” those it helps with the Catholic faith, and that it hires employees “regardless of religion.” And the court held that because Catholic Charities provides services that “can be provided by organizations of either religious or secular motivations,” those services do not have a religious purpose. Put another way, it doesn’t matter if Catholic Charities gives a cup of water in Jesus’ name, because non-religious charities offer cups of water too.

The complete certiorari petition may be found at Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission