Courts Have Ruled Against Pulpit Politicking

The Alliance Defense Fund and other groups assert that the IRS regulation banning pulpit politicking is unconstitutional. They are wrong. In 2000, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in Branch Ministries v. Rosotti that the IRS acted legally when it revoked the tax exemption of a New York church that in 1992 placed a full-page ad in USA Today telling people not to vote for Bill Clinton.

The Church at Pierce Creek in Binghamton was defended by attorneys with TV preacher Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice. The attorneys argued that the IRS's actions violated the church's free-speech and freedom of religion rights. In it unanimous decision, the three-judge court rejected these arguments. The ADF is free to bring another legal challenge, but this precedent will be hard to overcome.

Although the Church at Pierce Creek is the only church to have lost its tax exemption for politicking, others have received warnings from the IRS, been audited and been subjected to other types of sanctions. Some religious ministries have been assessed back taxes. There is a way to avoid these types of problems: Don't engage in partisan politicking.