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After the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals appointed U.S.C. Law Professor Erwin Chemerinsky as an amicus curiae to file a brief in a routine tax court appeal arguing that the internal revenue code's parsonage exemption amounted to an unconstitutional establishment of religion, the taxpayer, Saddleback Community Church Pastor Rick Warren, asked John Eastman and the Claremont Institute's Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence to represent him in the high-profile constitutional matter. Dr. Eastman's brief argued that the exemption is not only constitutional, but that elimination of the exemption might well create an unconstitutional discrimination among religions. Although the case became moot after Congress enacted new legislation and the IRS and Rick Warren entered into a stipulated dismissal, that did not stop Professor Chemerinsky, who filed an unheard of opposition by amicus curiae to the dismissal and also filed a motion to intervene. Dr. Eastman replied in a second brief to this unprecedented maneuver. Other filings in the case are available from The National Association of Church Business Administration.
Go to:
- Eastman's initial Brief (pdf)
- Eastman's second Brief (pdf)
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