O'Rourke: Churches That Don't Support Rights Should Lose Exemption

Walter OlsonLast night, at a CNN candidate forum on gay rights, CNN's Don Lemon asked Democratic candidate Beto O'Rourke: "religious institutions like colleges, churches, charities. Should they lose their tax-exempt status if they oppose same-sex marriage?"O'Rourke answered "Yes," going on to say "There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break for anyone ... that denies the full human rights and the full civil rights of every single one of us."Aside from being grossly illiberal, anti-pluralist, and inflammatory, O'Rourke's announced policy is also unconstitutional under current Supreme Court precedent.As along line of court opinions hasmade clear, to quote Eugene Volokh, "tax exemptions can ’t be denied based on the viewpoint that a group communicates," and the law “may treat groups differently based on theiractions, but not based on the views they express ” (emphasis added). "Support," the term used in the question, makes clear that viewpoint and doctrine are at issue here.Whether through tax leverage or other means, the Constitution also forbids government from reaching into many internal decision processes of churches. The Supreme Courtrebuked the Obama administration on this in the 2012 Hosanna-Tabor case, 9-0. Every single liberal Justice joined in defense of church autonomy in that case.To be sure, there are ways consistent with the Constitution to curtail the tax exemption of churches or religious organizations, but they might require curtailing that of pro-ga...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs