US Appeals Court Unanimously Finds Tax-Free Clergy Housing Allowances Constitutional | Christian News Network

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03/16/19

 

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has again dealt a blow to a legal challenge by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) as it ruled for the second time on Friday that tax-free housing allowances for pastors do not violate the U.S. Constitution.

 

“We conclude § 107(2) has a secular legislative purpose, its principal effect is neither to endorse nor to inhibit religion, and it does not cause excessive government entanglement,” wrote Judge Michael Brennan, nominated to the bench by President Trump, on behalf of the unanimous three-judge panel.

 

“Here, ‘[t]here is no genuine nexus between tax exemption and establishment of religion,’” he wrote. “Section 107(2), then, does not violate the Establishment Clause …”

 

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