Source: http://supreme.nolo.com/us/404/561/case.html
Timestamp: 2019-07-24 06:45:58
Document Index: 69312868

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 501', '§ 501', '§ 501', '§ 501', '§ 501', '§ 501']

UNITED STATES V. CHRISTIAN ECHOES MINISTRY, INC., 404 U. S. 561 - Volume 404 - 1972 - Full Text - US Supreme Court Center - USSC Cases - Nolo
US Supreme Court Center > Volume 404 > UNITED STATES V. CHRISTIAN ECHOES MINISTRY, INC., 404 U. S. 561 (1972) > Full Text
The "basis" of the District Court's decision, United States v. Raines, 362 U. S. 17, 362 U. S. 20, was that, under the facts adduced at trial, the appellee qualified for exempt status under § 501(c)(3). The court did not question or even consider the constitutionality of § 501(c)(3) "as
Similarly, the District Court's commentary on the denial of the appellee's First Amendment rights was directed to the particular interpretation given to § 501(c)(3) by the Internal Revenue Service in this case, and to its means of enforcing that interpretation. At most, the court's reasoning on this point can be read to construe § 501(c)(3) narrowly so as to avoid a First Amendment problem. [Footnote 3] The court refused to interpret
and apply the section to require an analysis of the "religious" or "non-religious" character of every activity by a concededly religious organization, because such an interpretation and application would infringe the right to free exercise of religion. It stated that the Internal Revenue Service had already gone too far in its enforcement of this interpretation. But the statement that the Service violated the appellee's First Amendment rights is not the same as a holding that Congress did so in enacting § 501(c)(3). The court avoided holding that the section itself was unconstitutional "as applied" -- i.e., that the section, by its own terms, infringed constitutional freedoms in the circumstances of the particular case. Rather, it held that the Service had misinterpreted § 501(c)(3), and that the section must be narrowly construed. [Footnote 4] Although the construction was