Wisconsin
Supreme Court will hear Catholic charitable group's plea to be free from Wisconsin unemployment tax
WASHINGTON (AP) — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday said it would take up a new religious rights case over whether a Catholic charitable organization must pay Wisconsin’s employment tax.
The justices will review a divided state Supreme Court ruling that refused to grant an exemption to the Catholic Charities Bureau, based in Superior, Wisconsin. The state court ruled that the work of Catholic Charities and four related organizations is primarily not religious, although it found that the motivation to help older, disabled and low-income people stems from Catholic teachings.
The case probably will be argued in the spring.
The Supreme Court in recent years has issued an unbroken string of decisions siding with churches and religious plaintiffs in disputes with states.
Lawyers for the Wisconsin groups argued to the court that the decision violates religious freedoms protected by the First Amendment. They also said the court should step in to resolve conflicting rulings by several top state courts on the same issue.
“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,” Eric Rassbach, the lead lawyer for Catholic Charities at the Supreme Court, said in a statement.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Wisconsin Attorney General Joshua Kaul had urged the high court to stay out of the case, arguing that much of the groups’ funding comes from state and local governments, and the joint federal and state Medicaid program.
Employees don’t have to be Catholic and “people receiving services from these organizations receive no religious training or orientation,” Kaul wrote.
Catholic Charities has paid the unemployment tax since 1972, he wrote.
Wisconsin exempts church-controlled organizations from the tax if they are “operated primarily for religious purposes.” The state high court ruled that both the motivations and the activities have to be religious for organizations to avoid paying the tax.
A group of religious scholars, backing Catholic Charities, told the court that “the case involves governmental interference with religious liberty” that warrants the justices’ intervention.
Catholic, Islamic, Lutheran, Jewish and Mormon organizations also filed briefs in support of Catholic Charities.
At the state Supreme Court, the Freedom from Religion Foundation argued that a ruling for Catholic Charities would extend to religiously affiliated hospitals and some colleges across Wisconsin, potentially taking their employees out of the state unemployment insurance system.
Catholic Charities in Superior manages nonprofit organizations that run more than 60 programs designed to help older or disabled people, children with special needs, low-income families, and people suffering from disasters, regardless of their religion, according to court documents.
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WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW/GRAY NEWS) – A ransomware group has claimed to have breached the learning management system Canvas, possibly exposing the personal information of students, teachers and staff across the country.
According to a statement from the Universities of Wisconsin website, they were notified of a nationwide security breach experienced by Instructure, the provider of Canvas. Universities of Wisconsin schools use the cloud-based management system.
UW-Stevens Point tells NewsChannel 7 they have not confirmed UWSP was involved in the breach, but did send communication that Canvas was down and students should not perform any asked actions if prompted, as it may not be legitimate while Canvas is down.
Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, posted on May 1 about a cybersecurity incident that had been reported and was under investigation.
The next day, Chief Information Security Officer Steve Proud wrote that the information involved in the attack included names, student ID numbers, messages between users and email addresses.
“At this time, we have found no evidence that passwords, dates of birth, government identifiers, or financial information were involved. If that changes, we will notify any impacted institutions,” he wrote.
The Wausau School District sent a letter to parents Wednesday regarding the cybersecurity incident. They said there is no evidence that passwords, single-sign-on credentials, financial information or social security numbers were impacted. They stressed that type of information is not stored in Canvas.
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(WLUK) — The Wisconsin-Notre Dame game at Lambeau Field will be under the lights.
Kickoff will be at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 6.
The matchup, originally scheduled for Oct. 3, 2020, was rescheduled for 2026 after the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the 2020 football season.
The Badgers took on the Fighting Irish at Soldier Field in Chicago in 2021 as part of the Shamrock Series, the neutral-site non-conference series between the two programs. Notre Dame claimed the first game of the series 41-13.
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Wisconsin last played at Lambeau Field in 2016 and scored a 16-14 win over No. 5 LSU.
Wisconsin
DHS urges Wisconsin ‘sanctuary’ county to keep illegal immigrant accused in elderly sexual assaults jailed
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The Department of Homeland Security is urging “sanctuary politicians in Wisconsin” not to release a Nicaraguan national who was arrested after being accused of sexually assaulting an elderly victim, according to a statement Wednesday.
Julio Cesar Morales-Jarquin, 31, is in local police custody after being charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault of an elderly victim, DHS said.
He was arrested last month after a residential care facility in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, reported to police that an employee may have assaulted vulnerable residents, according to local outlet WKOW.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a detainer request on April 27 asking that Morales-Jarquin remain in custody.
ICE ARRESTS ALLEGED CHILD SEX OFFENDER RELEASED UNDER CONNECTICUT SANCTUARY LAWS
Julio Cesar Morales-Jarquin, 31, is accused of sexually assaulting an elderly victim at a Wisconsin care facility, according to authorities. (Department of Homeland Security)
DHS on Wednesday called on Dane County officials not to release Morales-Jarquin, accusing the county of being a “sanctuary jurisdiction” that refuses to honor ICE detainers.
The agency said the county has previously given ICE as little as 30 minutes to take custody of individuals in its jail.
DHS BLASTS MINNESOTA BOARD FOR UNANIMOUSLY PARDONING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CONVICTED OF 3 ASSAULTS
The Department of Homeland Security logo. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
According to DHS, Morales-Jarquin entered the United States in 2023 under the Biden administration’s humanitarian parole program for Nicaragua. Although the program was later ended, DHS said he remained in the country unlawfully.
“This illegal alien is charged with two counts of sexual assault of an elderly victim at an assisted living facility,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in the DHS statement. “This dirtbag was released into the country by the Biden Administration. DHS is calling on sanctuary politicians in Dane County, Wisconsin to NOT release this criminal from jail back onto the streets to commit more crimes.”
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The Wisconsin State Capitol, in Madison, Wisconsin, houses both chambers of the Wisconsin legislature along with the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Office of the Governor. (Jordan McAlister)
“We need Wisconsin sanctuary politicians to cooperate with us to remove criminals from our country,” she added.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Dane County Executive’s Office for comment.
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