05-12-2011, 02:01 AM
Grace62 wrote:
You're reminding me of that kitten trying to run up the slide.
"...which was not about a constitutional right to tax exemption but about the constitutionality of the exemptions themselves."
It seems i didn't make the distinction very clear. I apologize. Let me try again.
A constitutional right to tax exempt status would mean that levying a tax against a religious institution would be an infringement on that institution's Constitutional protections. While the government can so infringe (e.g., speech can legally be restricted in special circumstances), the standard for doing so is quite high. The state must show that is has a compelling interest (a high bar in the law) in order to infringe on rights. No right to exemption from taxation for religious groups has ever been established by the Supreme Court, through the First Amendment or otherwise. Period.
The constitutionality of a statute reflects whether or not a law is permitted under the Constitution. For example, a law that bans the burning of the flag violates First Amendment protections against infringing the right to free speech, and is unconstitutional. A law that provides tax funding specifically to churches for religious activities violates the First Amendment's separation of church and state, and is likewise unconstitutional. However, the SCotUS has determined that because tax exemption statutes do not target religious groups exclusively, and because they are intended to promote public goods, they do not violate the First Amendment even though it provides a form of government benefit to religious groups. The Walz case determined that such laws are allowed by the Constitution, not that they are required by the Constitution.
Just because a law passes constitutional muster doesn't mean that it confers constitutional rights. If religious organizations had a right to tax exemption, we would not need specific statutes to exempt them; it would be part of the case law and written into the regulations. I'm probably ill-equipped to make this any clearer than i have here. If i haven't done the job, i am genuinely sorry.