[blindlaw] Re the ADA in churches

[Daniel McBride]

I agree.  But that does not change the fact that you forego your privilege
to speak politically in your church if you wish to take advantage of
operating tax free as a church.  Call it a "restraint" if you wish, but, the
effect is the same.

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Angie Matney
Sent: Friday, September 07, 2012 9:20 PM
To: Blind Law Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Re the ADA in churches

I don't see that as a waiver of any first-amendment privilege. There are
restrictions on political activities  of 501(c)(3) organizations.
You're free to engage in these activities--you just can't do it tax-free.

Angie



On 9/7/12, Daniel McBride <dlmlaw at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> Elizabeth:
>
> In principle, I believe your view to be correct.  However, in the 
> instance being discussed, one's first amendment priveleges can be 
> waived just as any other.
>
> It is my opinion that any religious institution that accepts federal 
> funds, for any reason, waives their first amendment privileges; it 
> comes with the territory of taking the money.
>
> Also, I know that all 501(c)(3) non-profits, including religious 
> institutions, are subject to having their first amendment privileges 
> curtailed.  For example, somewhere around 2007, a Methodist church in 
> Los Angeles had a visiting pastor one weekend that spoke vociferously 
> against the Iraq war.  For doing so, they had their non-profit status 
> revoked and were made to pay their previous year's taxes that had been
exempted.
>
> Also, a man named Texe Marrs runs a Christian ministry in Austin, 
> Texas called Power of Prophecy.  Mr. Marrs also has a weekly radio 
> broadcast in which he discusses politics regularly.  In the early 
> 2000s, he was visited by the IRS and had his non-profit status revoked 
> and made to pay past exempt taxes.
>
> So, in some circumstances, your first amendment privileges can be 
> restricted simply by becoming a 501(c)(3).
>
> There is not a single privilege delineated within the Constitution 
> that cannot be waived.  Also, forget not, that all of said privileges 
> can be revoked under the thirteenth amendment.
>
> Dan McBride
> Fort Worth, Texas
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] 
> On Behalf Of Elizabeth Rene
> Sent: Friday, September 07, 2012 4:39 PM
> To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [blindlaw] Re the ADA in churches
>
> Whether the ADA applies to churches may have to be decided on a case 
> by case basis.  But the Supreme Court's decision seems to say that the 
> ADA, or any other employment-related statute, cannot be enforced 
> against churches in matters between them and their ministers (and here 
> I'm reading "lay and ordained, volunteer or professional, nuns and 
> monks."  Because judicial oversight of the relationship between a 
> minister and his or her religious superiors would violate the First 
> Amendment's separation of church and state, and would infringe the 
> constitutional rights of religious faith communities to govern 
> themselves according to their own belief systems.
> The
> court's decision was based upon the Constitution, and not on the ADA 
> itself.
>
> Anyone needing to know whether the ADA could help them in relation to 
> a specific church-related situation would need to consult his or her 
> own attorney to see whether the ADA could apply to the particular facts.
>
> From where I sit, getting a faith community to adopt the ADA's 
> principles might be more easily accomplished through education and 
> persuasion than through enforcement.
>
> Just witness what's happened in churches over the past thirty years or 
> so to see how change does and does not come about.
>
> Elizabeth
>
>
>
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