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Walz v. Tax Commission (docket #: 135) (1970)  [Findlaw]

Secondary Link Walz v. Tax Commission  [Legal Information Institute]
Argument Date 11/19/1969
Decided 5/4/1970
Supreme Court Vote 4-2-1
Supreme Court Ruling Establishment Clause claim denied; tax exemption does not unduly entangle the state with religion.
 
IssueWhether the New York City Tax Commission's grant of an exemption to church property violates provisions prohibiting establishment of religion under the First Amendment.
Majority Opinion Burger, C.J.
Concurring Opinion Brennan, J., & Harlan, J.
Dissenting Opinion Douglas, J.
Oral Arguments Audio (Oyez)  [Oyez]
Lawyers
For Petitioner
Edward J. Ennis

For Respondent
J. Lee Rankin

News Stories & Commentary
"Justices to Hear Suit on Tax Laws on Church Lands," The New York Times, June 17, 1969, P. 1
Brady, Thomas, "Suit to Fight Some Tax Exemptions for Churches," The New York Times, Jan. 24, 1969, P. 80
Cassels, Louis, "Churches Face Taxing?" The Chicago Daily Defender, July 5, 1969, P. 21
Graham, Fred P., "High Court Backs Church's Right to Tax Exemption," The New York Times, May 5, 1970, P. 1
Kohlmeier, Louis M., "Church Tax Freedom Upheld; Only Dissent Is Douglas' as Burger Moves to the Fore," The Wall Street Journal, May 5, 1970, P. 4
William R. MacKaye, "High Court Agrees to Consider Tax Status of Religious Bodies," The Washington Post, June 17, 1969, Sect. A, p. 8
Other
Chemerinsky, Erwin, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (3rd Ed.) (2006), pp. 1229-1230
Gey, Steven G., RELIGION AND THE STATE (2nd Ed.) (2006), pp. 506-517
Stone, Seidman, Sunstein, Tushnet, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (3rd Ed.) (1996), pp. 1557-1558, 1570-1572
Books
Witte, John Jr., RELIGION AND THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL EXPERIMENT (2000), pp. 157-158, 186-190, 202-203
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