Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Comm’n.

Decided June 5, 2025. Sonia Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 24-154 · 605 U.S. 238 (2025) · Cited 0 times

Holding

The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision denying petitioners a tax emption available to religious entities under Wisconsin law on the grounds that petitioners were not “operated primarily for religious purposes” because they neither engaged in proselytization nor limited their charitable services to Catholics violated the First Amendment.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court. Read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Larson v. Valente · 456 U.S. 228 (1982)
• Watson v. Jones · 80 U.S. 679 (1872)
• Gillette v. United States · 401 U.S. 437 (1971)
• Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 565 U.S. 171 (2012)
• Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese for United States and Canada v. Milivojevich · 426 U.S. 696 (1976)
• Epperson v. Arkansas · 393 U.S. 97 (1968)
• Kedroff v. Saint Nicholas Cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church in North America · 344 U.S. 94 (1952)
• St. Martin Evangelical Lutheran Church v. South Dakota · 451 U.S. 772 (1981)
• Carson v. Makin · 596 U.S. 767 (2022)
• Duncan v. Walker · 533 U.S. 167 (2001)
• Roberts v. United States Jaycees · 468 U.S. 609 (1984)
• TRW Inc. v. Andrews · 534 U.S. 19 (2001)
• Reed v. Town of Gilbert · 576 U.S. 155 (2015)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Kamen v. Kemper Financial Services, Inc. · 500 U.S. 90 (1991)
• Boyd's Lessee v. Graves · 17 U.S. 513 (1819)
• Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow · 542 U.S. 1 (2004)
• Zorach v. Clauson · 343 U.S. 306 (1952)
• Marsh v. Chambers · 463 U.S. 783 (1983)
• Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe · 530 U.S. 290 (2000)
• Fowler v. Rhode Island · 345 U.S. 67 (1953)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

Explore from here

Sonia Sotomayor’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2025). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).