Comments on: Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s Church May Have Tax Problems http://jonathanturley.org/2008/03/14/rev-jeremiah-wrights-church-may-have-tax-problems/ Res ipsa loquitur ("The thing itself speaks") Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:38:12 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Osama and Obama: Church Fuels Obama Muslim Rumors « JONATHAN TURLEY http://jonathanturley.org/2008/03/14/rev-jeremiah-wrights-church-may-have-tax-problems/#comment-11685 Osama and Obama: Church Fuels Obama Muslim Rumors « JONATHAN TURLEY Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:20:17 +0000 http://jonathanturley.wordpress.com/?p=1259#comment-11685 [...] Yet, after years of faith based politics, discussed here, ministers are now openly campaigning in their churches in direct violation of the federal tax code, here and here. [...] [...] Yet, after years of faith based politics, discussed here, ministers are now openly campaigning in their churches in direct violation of the federal tax code, here and here. [...]

]]> By: JR http://jonathanturley.org/2008/03/14/rev-jeremiah-wrights-church-may-have-tax-problems/#comment-8317 JR Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:35:23 +0000 http://jonathanturley.wordpress.com/?p=1259#comment-8317 Odd that the IRS's rules seem to be more stringent than the FEC's when it comes to political communications. If I remember correctly, the FEC's "magic words" test is still functionally intact after last year's FEC v. Wisconsin Right-to-Life, unless the comments meet the McConnell standard of being "functionally equivalent" to campaigning and there is no other reasonable interpretation of the comments aside from the overt advocacy of a candidate (and I think there is some wiggle room, at least in the comments quoted above, to make the case that it wasn't advocating Obama's election). But it does pretty well indicate a pro-Obama bias. Jay Sekulow time: since federal tax laws are statutory, do you know of a precedent for challenging the restriction on political speech from the pulpit as an abridgment of First Amendment protections, in that it potentially causes clergy to abandon one civil liberty (free speech) in favor of protecting another (free exercise of religion)? I wouldn't particularly like to see that case made, but I bet the arguments could be interesting. (Again, I ain't no lawyer--other than this site and Volokh, my total legal education to-date consists of Jeffrey Toobin's "The Nine," Breyer's "Active Liberty," Dick Hasen's "The Supreme Court and Election Law," and a TiVo Season Pass for "Law & Order") Odd that the IRS’s rules seem to be more stringent than the FEC’s when it comes to political communications. If I remember correctly, the FEC’s “magic words” test is still functionally intact after last year’s FEC v. Wisconsin Right-to-Life, unless the comments meet the McConnell standard of being “functionally equivalent” to campaigning and there is no other reasonable interpretation of the comments aside from the overt advocacy of a candidate (and I think there is some wiggle room, at least in the comments quoted above, to make the case that it wasn’t advocating Obama’s election).

But it does pretty well indicate a pro-Obama bias.

Jay Sekulow time: since federal tax laws are statutory, do you know of a precedent for challenging the restriction on political speech from the pulpit as an abridgment of First Amendment protections, in that it potentially causes clergy to abandon one civil liberty (free speech) in favor of protecting another (free exercise of religion)? I wouldn’t particularly like to see that case made, but I bet the arguments could be interesting.

(Again, I ain’t no lawyer–other than this site and Volokh, my total legal education to-date consists of Jeffrey Toobin’s “The Nine,” Breyer’s “Active Liberty,” Dick Hasen’s “The Supreme Court and Election Law,” and a TiVo Season Pass for “Law & Order”)

]]> By: Obama’s Minister: Sing “God Damn America” « JONATHAN TURLEY http://jonathanturley.org/2008/03/14/rev-jeremiah-wrights-church-may-have-tax-problems/#comment-8293 Obama’s Minister: Sing “God Damn America” « JONATHAN TURLEY Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:49:47 +0000 http://jonathanturley.wordpress.com/?p=1259#comment-8293 [...] noted here, Wright and his church may now be in serious trouble with the [...] [...] noted here, Wright and his church may now be in serious trouble with the [...]

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