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Court Dismisses Clergy Tax-Free Housing Challenge

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Church leaders in Madison, Wisconsin are celebrating a legal victory.

On Thursday, a federal appeals court dismissed a challenge to the law that gives clergy tax-free housing allowances, saying leaders of an anti-religion group didn't have the standing to bring the lawsuit.

"When a group of atheists tries to cajole the IRS into raising taxes on churches, it's bound to raise some eyebrows. The court was right to send them packing," said Luke Goodrich, deputy general counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Freedom.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb's ruling from last year striking down the law that benefits clergy.

The three-judge panel said the co-presidents of the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation did not have standing to challenge the law because they've never suffered because of it.

"The plaintiffs here have never been denied the parsonage exemption because they have never requested it," the court said. "Therefore, they have suffered no injury."

Annie Laurie Gaylor, one of the foundation co-presidents, called the ruling cowardly given that the court dismissed it without ruling on the merits.

"We will continue to challenge this indefensible favoritism for religion in other forums until the issue cannot be circumvented," she said in a statement.

But Erik Stanley, the attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian advocacy group, praised the ruling.

"The allowance many churches provide to pastors is church money, not government money," Stanley said in a statement. "It is constitutional and should continue to be respected and protected."

 

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