OK, so I should have read the court of appeals'
opinion before posting. I was close, but no cigar.
The opinion (898 So. 2d 134) isn't terribly clear
about the procedural posture, but it seems to be this:
The Wiccans sued because an administrative official
denied the church a renewal of its certificate of exemption. During
litigation, Florida apparently stipulated that Wicca is a religion entitled to
the exemption. The Wiccan church wishes to continue to challenge the
statute on the ground that it shouldn't have to appear before a series of
administrative officers for adjudication of whether it's a religion. The
majority said there's no standing in light of the state's stipulation; the
dissent said there was standing.
Purely a state-law standing question, in any event,
if my reading is correct.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2005 2:34
PM
Subject: Re: Challenge to Sales Tax
Exemption on Religious Items
I thought the same thing. But perhaps the
question on appeal is this:
In Texas Monthly, the Court held that
the discrimination was unconstitutional, but remanded the case to the state
courts to decide the state-law (severability) question of whether the proper
"remedy" was extension of the exemption to Texas Monthly magazine, or
elimination of the exemption altogether. Of course, if the clear answer
to the state law question were that neither
magazine gets the exemption -- because the legislature would rather not
provide any exemptions at all if it must be viewpoint-neutral -- then the
periodical seeking "equal treatment" arguably would not have standing
to sue. (I actually think it's a hard question. And in this case,
a state-law, rather than an article III, question.)
So, perhaps in Florida it's already clearly
established that, if the Satanic Bible will be tax-exempt, the legislature
would prefer to do away with the religious exemption altogether -- in
which case the question is whether, under state law, the Wiccans
have "standing" to ensure that other religions are denied an exemption,
just as the Wiccans are.
Just guessing, though.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2005 2:17
PM
Subject: RE: Challenge to Sales Tax Exemption on
Religious Items
>From the description, these cases seem to be controlled by
Texas Monthly. Am I missing something?
Douglas
Laycock University of Texas Law School 727 E. Dean Keeton St. Austin,
TX 78705 512-232-1341 (phone)
512-471-6988 (fax)
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of
Friedman, Howard M. Sent: Monday, November 21, 2005 1:01 PM To: Law
& Religion issues for Law Academics Subject: RE: Challenge to Sales Tax
Exemption on Religious Items
A similar case has recently been filed in
Georgia. See http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2005/11/aclu-challenges-sales-tax-exe mption.html
************************************* Howard M.
Friedman Disting. Univ. Professor Emeritus University of Toledo College
of Law Toledo, OH 43606-3390 Phone: (419) 530-2911, FAX (419)
530-4732 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************* -----Original
Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of James
Maule Sent: Monday, November 21, 2005 1:24 PM To: religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu Subject: Challenge to Sales Tax Exemption on Religious Items
I
don't recall if this was previously posted, or perhaps a story about the
case in earlier stages of the proceedings had been posted. Sorry for any
duplication.
From: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1132308316504
Wiccan Lawsuit May Spell Toil, Taxes and Trouble for Fla.
Justices Carl Jones Daily Business Review 11-21-2005
The Florida
Supreme Court has agreed to hear a constitutional challenge to a Florida
law exempting sales taxes on religious books.
A divided Supreme Court
on Thursday agreed to accept the case, filed by a nonprofit Orlando-based
Wiccan group, and hear oral arguments on its merits.
The case
centers on a Florida law that exempts sales and use tax on "religious
publications, bibles, hymn books, prayer books, vestments, altar
paraphernalia, sacramental chalices, and like church service and ceremonial
raiments and equipment."
The lower appellate court opinion reveals the
Wiccan group was exempted from paying sales tax on copies of the Bible and
Quran, but forced to pay sales tax on the Satanic Bible and the Witches
Bible.
The question before the court is whether a tax-exempt
organization, like a religious group, has a right to challenge a state tax
exemption that benefits them.
******* [the rest of the story is at
the cited URL]
Jim Maule Professor of Law, Villanova
University School of Law Villanova PA 19085 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://vls.law.vill.edu/prof/maule mauledagain.blogspot.com President, TaxJEM Inc (computer assisted
tax law instruction) (www2.taxjem.com) Publisher, JEMBook Publishing Co.
(www.jembook.com) Maule
Family Archivist & Genealogist (www.maulefamily.com)
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