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.

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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Arizona State University faculty at the College of Health Solutions are teaming up with the University of Wisconsin to determine which treatments work best to empower Black people to quit smoking.

In Phoenix, 11.8% of all Black residents are smokers, 70% of whom say they want to quit and 60% of whom attempt every year.

Stephanie Marita Carpenter, an assistant professor at the College of Health Solutions, is a co-investigator on the project and the ASU site lead who will oversee study data collection in Phoenix. Carpenter is an expert in the development and testing of engaging health behavior change interventions.

“Considerable tobacco-related health disparities exist for Black adults across the United States, including in Arizona,” Carpenter said.

According to the American Lung Association, more than 75% of Black adult smokers use menthol cigarettes, which is three times higher than white smokers. Menthol cigarettes are also easier to get addicted to and harder to quit.

This study will examine the effects of three treatment packages for 1,500 Black adults who want to quit smoking across metropolitan areas with elevated smoking rates among Black adults in Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, Virginia and Wisconsin.

“Our multistate team is well suited to address the critical need for more accessible and engaging smoking cessation programs that better meet the interests and needs of Black communities,” Carpenter said.

The first package provides four counseling sessions and two weeks of nicotine patches, similar to a state quitline program. The second package increases the sessions to eight culturally specific counseling sessions (virtual or in person) and eight weeks of nicotine packages, as well as a video designed to help Black adults quit smoking. The third package is similar to the second but offers an additional $50 to incentivize participants to attend the counseling sessions.

The five-year-long research study is funded by a $10 million award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to the University of Wisconsin, led by Megan Piper, co-director of research at the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTRI) and Dr. Hasmeena Kathuria, director of UW-CTRI.

“Research has shown that Black adults want to quit smoking, so let’s make sure they have access to treatments that work for them,” Piper said.

The goal of the study is to see if culturally specific intervention packages will increase the quit rate among Black adults relative to standard practices. The reason for the three packages is that individual aspects of each package are effective quitting methods among Black adults, and were identified as especially promising through feedback from the study’s community advisory board.

“I am delighted to be part of this outstanding team,” Carpenter said. “We are seeking to address smoking-related health inequities by identifying effective cessation interventions that will help Black adults quit smoking in Arizona and beyond.”

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