90 S. Ct. 1409; 25 L. Ed. 2d 697; 1970 U.S. LEXIS 43
Argument
Oral argument
Prior history
Summary judgment affirmed by New York Court of Appeals, 24 N.Y.2d 30, 246 N.E.2d 517.
Holding
Grants of tax exemption to religious organizations do not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
Hugo Black · William O. Douglas John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr. Potter Stewart · Byron White Thurgood Marshall
Case opinions
Majority
Burger, joined by Black, Harlan, Brennan, Stewart, White, Marshall
Concurrence
Brennan
Concurrence
Harlan (in judgment)
Dissent
Douglas
Laws applied
U.S. Const., Amends. I and XIV
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Walz v. Tax Commission of the City of New York
Walz v. Tax Commission of the City of New York, 397 U.S. 664 (1970),[1] was a case before the United States Supreme Court. The Court held that grants of tax exemption to religious organizations do not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
Contents
1Background
1.1Legislation
1.2Dispute
1.3Procedural history
2Opinion of the court
2.1Reasoning
3Concurrences
4Dissent
5See also
6References
7External links
Background[edit]
Legislation[edit]
New York law granted property tax exemptions to religious organizations for religious properties used solely for religious worship.
This exemption is authorized by N.Y. Const. art. XVI, § 1.
Under this provision, exemptions from taxation may be granted only by general laws. Exemptions may be altered or repealed except those exempting real or personal property used exclusively for religious, educational or charitable purposes as defined by law and owned by any corporation or association organized or conducted exclusively for one or more of such purposes and not operating for profit.
This exemption is implemented by N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law § 420(1).
This provision states in part: Real property owned by a corporation or association organized exclusively for the moral or mental improvement of men and women, or for religious, bible, tract, charitable, benevolent, missionary, hospital, infirmary, educational, public playground, scientific, literary, bar association, medical society, library, patriotic, historical or cemetery purposes and used exclusively for carrying out thereupon one or more of such purposes shall be exempt from taxation as provided in this section.
Dispute[edit]
The plaintiff, Frederick Walz, an owner of real estate in Staten Island, New York, brought suit in the New York Supreme Court, Special Term, seeking to enjoin the New York City Tax Commission from granting these exemptions. The plaintiff contended that the exemptions indirectly required him to make a contribution to religious bodies and thereby violated the religion clauses of the First Amendment.
Procedural history[edit]
Rejecting this contention, the New York Supreme Court granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment and dismissed the complaint. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court[2] and the New York Court of Appeals[3] affirmed.
Opinion of the court[edit]
The United States Supreme Court affirmed, in an opinion by Chief Justice Warren Burger, expressing the views of five members of the court.[1]
Reasoning[edit]
The Court held that there was no nexus between these tax exemptions and the establishment of religion, and that federal or state grants of tax exemption to churches did not violate the First Amendment:
(1) exemptions were granted to all houses of religious worship within a broad class of property owned by nonprofit, quasi-public corporations which included hospitals, libraries, playgrounds, and scientific, professional, historical, and patriotic groups, and the legislative purpose was thus not aimed at establishing, sponsoring, or supporting religion, and
(2) the exemptions for religious organizations created only a minimal and remote involvement between church and state, and far less of an involvement than would be created by taxation of churches, and the effect of the exemptions was thus not an excessive government entanglement with religion. The grant of a tax exemption was not sponsorship of the organizations because the government did not transfer part of its revenue to churches but simply abstained from demanding that the churches support the state. The exemption created a more minimal and remote involvement between church and state than did taxation because it restricted the fiscal relationship between church and state and reinforced the desired separation insulating one from the other.[1]
Concurrences[edit]
Justices Brennan and Harlan, each in a separate opinion, while concurring in the court's conclusion that the tax exemptions did not violate the First Amendment, would reach this conclusion by applying different criteria from those applied by the court.[1]
Dissent[edit]
Justice Douglas would have held that the tax exemptions for religious organizations violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.[1]
See also[edit]
List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 397
References[edit]
^ abcdeWalz v. Tax Commission of the City of New York, 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
^30 App. Div. 2d 778, 292 N.Y.S.2d 353.
^24 N.Y.2d 30, 298 N.Y.S.2d 711, 246 N.E.2d 517.
External links[edit]
Text of Walz v. Tax Commission, 397 U.S. 664 (1970) is available from: CornellCourtListenerFindlawGoogle ScholarJustiaLibrary of CongressOpenJuristOyez (oral argument audio)
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United States First Amendment case law
Establishment Clause
Public funding
Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
McCollum v. Board of Education (1948)
Walz v. Tax Commission of the City of New York (1970)
Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
Marsh v. Chambers (1983)
Mueller v. Allen (1983)
Aguilar v. Felton (1985)
Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet (1994)
Agostini v. Felton (1997)
Mitchell v. Helms (2000)
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002)
Locke v. Davey (2004)
Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn (2011)
Public displays
Stone v. Graham (1980)
Lynch v. Donnelly (1984)
Board of Trustees of Scarsdale v. McCreary (1985)
County of Allegheny v. ACLU (1989)
McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky (2005)
Van Orden v. Perry (2005)
Pleasant Grove City v. Summum (2009)
School prayer
Zorach v. Clauson (1952)
Engel v. Vitale (1962)
Abington School District v. Schempp (1963)
Stone v. Graham (1980)
Wallace v. Jaffree (1985)
Lee v. Weisman (1992)
Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000)
Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow (2004)
Creationism
Epperson v. Arkansas (1968)
Edwards v. Aguillard (1987)
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (M.D. Pa. 2005)
Legislature prayer
Marsh v. Chambers (1983)
Town of Greece v. Galloway (2014)
Other
McGowan v. Maryland (1961)
McDaniel v. Paty (1978)
Estate of Thornton v. Caldor, Inc. (1985)
Texas Monthly, Inc. v. Bullock (1989)
Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2012)
Free Exercise Clause
Reynolds v. United States (1879)
Davis v. Beason (1890)
Schneider v. New Jersey (1939)
Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940)
Murdock v. Pennsylvania (1943)
United States v. Ballard (1944)
Braunfeld v. Brown (1961)
Torcaso v. Watkins (1961)
Sherbert v. Verner (1963)
Presbyterian Church v. Hull Church (1969)
Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)
Harris v. McRae (1980)
Thomas v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division (1981)
United States v. Lee (1982)
Bob Jones University v. United States (1983)
Bowen v. Roy (1986)
Goldman v. Weinberger (1986)
Employment Division v. Smith (1990)
Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah (1993)
City of Boerne v. Flores (1997)
Watchtower Society v. Village of Stratton (2002)
Cutter v. Wilkinson (2005)
Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer (2017)
Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018)
National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra (2018)
Freedom of speech (portal)
Sedition and imminent danger
Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)
Masses Publishing Co. v. Patten (S.D.N.Y. 1917)
Schenck v. United States (1919)
Abrams v. United States (1919)
Gitlow v. New York (1925)
Whitney v. California (1927)
Dennis v. United States (1951)
Communist Party v. Subversive Activities Control Board (1955, 1961)
Yates v. United States (1957, clear and present danger)
Bond v. Floyd (1966)
Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969, imminent lawless action)
Hess v. Indiana (1973)
False speech
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964, actual malice)
United States v. Alvarez (2012)
Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus (2014)
Fighting words and the heckler's veto
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Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)
Terminiello v. Chicago (1949)
Feiner v. New York (1951)
Gregory v. Chicago (1969)
National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie (1977)
R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul (1992)
Snyder v. Phelps (2011)
Elonis v. United States (2015)
Freedom of assembly and public forums
Hague v. CIO (1939)
Schneider v. New Jersey (1939)
Thornhill v. Alabama (1940)
Martin v. City of Struthers (1943)
Marsh v. Alabama (1946)
Niemotko v. Maryland (1951)
Edwards v. South Carolina (1963)
Cox v. Louisiana (1965)
Brown v. Louisiana (1966)
Adderley v. Florida (1966)
Carroll v. Town of Princess Anne (1968)
Coates v. Cincinnati (1971)
Organization for a Better Austin v. Keefe (1971)
Lloyd Corp. v. Tanner (1972)
Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins (1980)
Hill v. Colorado (2000)
McCullen v. Coakley (2014)
Packingham v. North Carolina (2017)
Symbolic speech
Stromberg v. California (1931)
United States v. O'Brien (1968)
Cohen v. California (1971)
Smith v. Goguen (1974)
Texas v. Johnson (1989)
United States v. Eichman (1990)
Virginia v. Black (2003)
Compelled speech
Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940)
West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)
Wooley v. Maynard (1977)
Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International, Inc. (2013)
National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra (2018)
Compelled subsidy of others' speech
Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977)
Communications Workers of America v. Beck (1978)
Keller v. State Bar of California (1990)
Lehnert v. Ferris Faculty Ass'n (1991)
Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth (2000)
Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Association (2005)
Davenport v. Washington Education Association (2007)
Locke v. Karass (2008)
Knox v. Service Employees International Union, Local 1000 (2012)
Harris v. Quinn (2014)
Friedrichs v. California Teachers Ass'n (2016)
Janus v. AFSCME (2018)
Loyalty oaths
American Communications Association v. Douds (1950)
Garner v. Board of Public Works (1951)
Speiser v. Randall (1958)
Keyishian v. Board of Regents (1967)
Communist Party of Indiana v. Whitcomb (1974)
School speech
Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940)
West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969, substantial disruption)
Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982)
Bethel School District v. Fraser (1986)
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)
Rosenberger v. University of Virginia (1995)
Morse v. Frederick (2007)
Obscenity
Rosen v. United States (1896)
United States v. One Book Called Ulysses (S.D.N.Y. 1933)
Roth v. United States (1957)
One, Inc. v. Olesen (1958)
Smith v. California (1959)
Marcus v. Search Warrant (1961)
MANual Enterprises v. Day (1962)
Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964)
Quantity of Books v. Kansas (1964)
Freedman v. Maryland (1965)
Ginzburg v. United States (1966)
Memoirs v. Massachusetts (1966)
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Ginsberg v. New York (1968)
Stanley v. Georgia (1969)
Cohen v. California (1971)
United States v. Thirty-seven Photographs (1971)
Kois v. Wisconsin (1972)
Miller v. California (1973)
Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton (1973)
United States v. 12 200-ft. Reels of Film (1973)
Jenkins v. Georgia (1974)
Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville (1975)
Young v. American Mini Theatres (1976)
New York v. Ferber (1982)
American Booksellers v. Hudnut (7th Cir., 1985)
Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc. (1986)
People v. Freeman (Cal. 1988)
Osborne v. Ohio (1990)
United States v. X-Citement Video (1994)
Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union (1997)
United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group (2000)
Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (2002)
Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union (2002)
Nitke v. Gonzales (S.D.N.Y., 2005)
United States v. Williams (2008)
Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations (2012)
American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression v. Strickland (6th Cir., 2009)
United States v. Kilbride (9th Cir., 2009)
United States v. Stevens (2010)
Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (2011)
Public employees
Pickering v. Board of Education (1968)
Perry v. Sindermann (1972)
Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth (1972)
Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle (1977)
Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District (1979)
Connick v. Myers (1983)
Rankin v. McPherson (1987)
Waters v. Churchill (1994)
Garcetti v. Ceballos (2006)
Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri (2011)
Heffernan v. City of Paterson (2016)
Hatch Act and similar laws
Ex parte Curtis (1882)
United Public Workers v. Mitchell (1947)
United States Civil Service Commission v. National Association of Letter Carriers (1973)
Broadrick v. Oklahoma (1973)
Licensing and restriction of speech
Mutual Film Corporation v. Industrial Commission of Ohio (1915)
Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson (1952)
NAACP v. Button (1963)
Freedman v. Maryland (1965)
Virginia State Pharmacy Board v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (1976)
Hoffman Estates v. The Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc. (1982)
Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans (2015)
Matal v. Tam (2017)
Commercial speech
Valentine v. Chrestensen (1942)
Rowan v. U.S. Post Office Dept. (1970)
Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations (1973)
Bigelow v. Commonwealth of Virginia (1974)
Virginia State Pharmacy Board v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (1976)
Bates v. State Bar of Arizona (1977)
Linmark Associates, Inc. v. Willingboro (1977)
Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission (1980)
Consol. Edison Co. v. Public Serv. Comm'n (1980)
Zauderer v. Office of Disciplinary Counsel of Supreme Court of Ohio (1985)
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Utilities Commission of California (1986)
Posadas de Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Company of Puerto Rico (1986)
San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. United States Olympic Committee (1987)
44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island (1996)
Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc. (2011)
Campaign finance and political speech
Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti (1978)
Citizens Against Rent Control v. City of Berkeley (1981)
Brown v. Socialist Workers '74 Campaign Committee (1982)
Regan v. Taxation with Representation of Washington (1983)
FEC v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life (1986)
Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce (1990)
McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission (1995)
Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. FEC (1996)
Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC (2000)
Republican Party of Minnesota v. White (2002)
McConnell v. FEC (2003)
Randall v. Sorrell (2006)
FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. (2007)
Davis v. FEC (2008)
Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
McComish v. Bennett (2011)
American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock (2012)
McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission (2014)
Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar (2015)
Freedom of the press
Prior restraints and censorship
Near v. Minnesota (1931)
Lovell v. City of Griffin (1938)
Hannegan v. Esquire, Inc. (1946)
New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)
Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo (1974)
Nebraska Press Ass'n v. Stuart (1976)
Landmark Communications, Inc. v. Virginia (1978)
Tory v. Cochran (2005)
Privacy
Time, Inc. v. Hill (1967)
Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn (1975)
Florida Star v. B. J. F. (1989)
Taxation and privileges
Grosjean v. American Press Co. (1936)
Branzburg v. Hayes (1972)
Minneapolis Star Tribune Co. v. Commissioner (1983)
Defamation
Beauharnais v. Illinois (1952)
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)
Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts (1967)
Greenbelt Cooperative Publishing Ass'n, Inc. v. Bresler (1970)
Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. (1974)
Time, Inc. v. Firestone (1976)
Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. (1984)
Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. (1985)
McDonald v. Smith (1985)
Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988)
Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton (1989)
Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. (1990)
Obsidian Finance Group, LLC v. Cox (9th Cir., 2014)
Broadcast media
Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC (1969)
FCC v. Pacifica Foundation (1978)
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. FCC (1994)
Bartnicki v. Vopper (2001)
Copyrighted materials
Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co. (1977)
Harper & Row v. Nation Enterprises (1985)
Freedom of association
Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath (1951)
Watkins v. United States (1957)
NAACP v. Alabama (1958)
NAACP v. Button (1963)
Baggett v. Bullitt (1964)
In re Primus (1978)
Roberts v. United States Jaycees (1984)
Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, & Bisexual Group of Boston (1995)
Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000)
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Unincorporated community in Oklahoma, United States Lugert, Oklahoma Unincorporated community Foundations from the town of Lugert at the bottom of Lake Altus-Lugert Lugert, Oklahoma Location within the state of Oklahoma Coordinates: 34°53′45″N 99°16′31″W / 34.89583°N 99.27528°W / 34.89583; -99.27528 Coordinates: 34°53′45″N 99°16′31″W / 34.89583°N 99.27528°W / 34.89583; -99.27528 Country United States State Oklahoma County Kiowa Time zone UTC-6 (Central (CST)) • Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT) GNIS feature ID 1100597 Lugert is an unincorporated community in Kiowa County, Oklahoma. [1] The town of Lugert was founded in 1901 on 80 acres (320,000 m 2 ). In the town, there was a general store that housed the Post office and sold dry goods, school supplies, groceries, harnesses, axes and much more. It was named for Frank Lugert, who had moved to the area in 1898. Lugert owned land where the town was sited and also owned the general st...