Opinion ID: 2639069
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Excessive entanglement

Text: Catholic Charities contends that the WCEA's exemption for religious employer[s] (Health & Saf.Code, § 1367.25, subd. (b)) violates the establishment clause by mandating an entangling inquiry into the employer's religious purpose and into its employees' and clients' religious beliefs. The argument refers to the first three of the four statutory criteria for identifying a religious employer, namely, whether [t]he inculcation of religious values is the purpose of the entity ( id., subd. (b)(1)(A)), whether [t]he entity primarily employs persons who share the religious tenets of the entity ( id., subd. (b)(1)(B)), and whether [t]he entity serves primarily persons who share the religious tenets of the entity ( id., subd. (b)(1)(C)). A law that fosters an excessive governmental entanglement with religion can for that reason violate the establishment clause. ( Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) 403 U.S. 602, 612-613, 91 S.Ct. 2105, 29 L.Ed.2d 745.) [6] Moreover, recent judicial opinions have criticized rules and laws that invite official trolling through a person's or institution's religious beliefs. ( Mitchell v. Helms (2000) 530 U.S. 793, 828, 120 S.Ct. 2530, 147 L.Ed.2d 660 (plur. opn. of Thomas, J.); University of Great Falls v. N.L.R.B. (D.C.Cir.2002) 278 F.3d 1335, 1342-1348.) The argument might have merit as applied to a hypothetical employer that sought to qualify under the WCEA's exemption for religious employers (Health & Saf.Code, § 1367.25, subd. (b)) but objected on establishment clause grounds to an entangling official effort to verify that its purpose was the inculcation of religious values, and that it primarily employed and served persons who shared its religious tenets. But Catholic Charities candidly alleges in its complaint that it does not qualify under the exemption because it does not satisfy any of the four criteria. More specifically, Catholic Charities concedes that its purpose is not the inculcation of religious values, that it does not primarily hire and serve Catholics, and that it does not fall within either of the relevant provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 6033(a)(2)(A)(i) and (iii), cited in Health & Saf.Code, § 1367.25, subd. (b)(1)(D)). Consequently, no entangling inquiry into Catholic Charities' purpose or beliefs, or the beliefs of its employees and clients, has occurred or is likely to occur. Therefore, even if in some other case the statute might require an entangling inquiry, in this case, as applied to Catholic Charities, the establishment clause offers no basis for holding the statute unconstitutional.