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Full-Text Articles in Law

Open Source: The Enewsletter Of Rwu Law 09-22-2017, Roger Williams University School Of Law Sep 2017

Open Source: The Enewsletter Of Rwu Law 09-22-2017, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.


Newsroom: Donald Trump Vs. Roger Williams 05-09-2017, David Logan May 2017

Newsroom: Donald Trump Vs. Roger Williams 05-09-2017, David Logan

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.


Rwu First Amendment Blog: David A. Logan's Blog: Donald Trump Vs. Roger Williams 05-08-2017, David A. Logan May 2017

Rwu First Amendment Blog: David A. Logan's Blog: Donald Trump Vs. Roger Williams 05-08-2017, David A. Logan

Law School Blogs

No abstract provided.


Politics At The Pulpit: Tax Benefits, Substantial Burdens, And Institutional Free Exercise, Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer Oct 2016

Politics At The Pulpit: Tax Benefits, Substantial Burdens, And Institutional Free Exercise, Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer

Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer

More than fifty years ago, Congress enacted a prohibition against political campaign intervention for all charities, including churches and other houses of worship, as a condition for receiving tax deductible contributions. Yet the IRS has never taken a house of worship to court for alleged violation of the prohibition through political comments from the pulpit, presumably at least in part because of concerns about the constitutionality of doing so. This decision is surprising, because a careful review of Free Exercise Clause case law - both before and after the landmark Employment Division v. Smith decision - reveals that the prohibition …


Words Of Wisdom From The Founding Fathers: Why The Internal Revenue Service Should Let Churches Be, Sophia Benavides Apr 2016

Words Of Wisdom From The Founding Fathers: Why The Internal Revenue Service Should Let Churches Be, Sophia Benavides

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

Part I of this comment will explore the foundations of the First Amendment, as the Constitution is a framework on which the United States continues to rest. An examination of the events contributing and leading to the drafting of the Constitution will illuminate the rationale behind the tenets put forth by the Founding Fathers. More specifically, this comment will devote emphasis to the Founding Fathers’ objectives regarding the state in relation to religion. This emphasis will provide insight into the perspective of the Founders at the time of drafting the First Amendment. Furthermore, this section will illustrate how the separation …


Speak Up: Issue Advocacy In Increasingly Politicized Times, Sally Wagenmaker Nov 2014

Speak Up: Issue Advocacy In Increasingly Politicized Times, Sally Wagenmaker

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

This article first provides a brief primer on current constraints affecting Section 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations' communications within the context of what has become known as “issue advocacy.” It then sets forth the problem of increasing politicization of nonprofits' issue advocacy activities. The article next evaluates related constitutional tensions for politically tinged issue advocacy, through the lens of the Supreme Court's free speech decisions. It concludes by addressing how the IRS's different content-based standards for issue advocacy are susceptible to abuse, are otherwise constitutionally suspect, and therefore warrant reform.


Politics At The Pulpit: Tax Benefits, Substantial Burdens, And Institutional Free Exercise, Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer Jan 2009

Politics At The Pulpit: Tax Benefits, Substantial Burdens, And Institutional Free Exercise, Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer

Journal Articles

More than fifty years ago, Congress enacted a prohibition against political campaign intervention for all charities, including churches and other houses of worship, as a condition for receiving tax deductible contributions. Yet the IRS has never taken a house of worship to court for alleged violation of the prohibition through political comments from the pulpit, presumably at least in part because of concerns about the constitutionality of doing so. This decision is surprising, because a careful review of Free Exercise Clause case law - both before and after the landmark Employment Division v. Smith decision - reveals that the prohibition …


Can The Irs Silence Religious Organizations, Meghan J. Ryan Jan 2007

Can The Irs Silence Religious Organizations, Meghan J. Ryan

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

In the years following the 2004 presidential election, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Internal Revenue Service threatened revoking the tax-exempt status of the All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena because during a 2004 sermon, a church rector stated that he opposed the Vietnam and Gulf wars and that Jesus would have disapproved of the Bush Administration's preemptive war doctrine. The rector did not tell his parishioners who to support in the 2004 election, however. This threat of revoking an organization's tax-exempt status is just one example of the IRS's recent and unprecedented aggressiveness in seeking out violations of …


Rendering Unto Caesar Or Electioneering For Caesar--Loss Of Church Tax Exemption For Participation In Electoral Politics, Alan L. Feld Jul 2001

Rendering Unto Caesar Or Electioneering For Caesar--Loss Of Church Tax Exemption For Participation In Electoral Politics, Alan L. Feld

Faculty Scholarship

The restriction on church participation in political campaigns contained in the Internal Revenue Code operates uneasily. It appears to serve the useful purpose of separating the spheres of religion and electoral politics. But the separation often is only apparent, as churches in practice signal support for a particular candidate in a variety of rays that historically have not cost them their exemptions. Although the limited enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service has reflected the sensitive nature of the First Amendment values present, the federal government should provide more formal elaboration by statute or regulation. Focus on the use of funds …


Comparison Between Freedom Of Religion In Germany And In The United States In General And The Treatment Of The Church Of Scientology Specifically, Wolfgang Eichele Jan 2000

Comparison Between Freedom Of Religion In Germany And In The United States In General And The Treatment Of The Church Of Scientology Specifically, Wolfgang Eichele

LLM Theses and Essays

The thesis first gives background information about the general development of fundamental rights in both Germany and the United States and specifically the freedom of religion. The analysis discusses in particular freedom of religion granted by Article 4 of the Basic Law in Germany and the religious clauses of the First Amendment of the American Constitution. In the first conclusion, the differences in the interpretations of the religious clauses both in Germany and the United States will be stated. These differences will then be illustrated by a discussion on the Church of Scientology through its basic facts, history, ideas, and …


Extracting Documents And Information From The Internal Revenue Service, Stuart E. Siegel, Stanley I. Langbein Jan 1981

Extracting Documents And Information From The Internal Revenue Service, Stuart E. Siegel, Stanley I. Langbein

Articles

No abstract provided.