The lower court ruled 2-1 that Wiccan didn't have standing because it benefited from the exemption. Here's the language.
"In the instant case, Wiccan's constitutional challenge is that, based on the reasoning found in Texas Monthly, the Florida sales tax exemption benefits religion. The parties have stipulated that Wicca is a religion. Therefore, under Wiccan's argument that the tax exemption benefits religion, Wiccan, as a religious organization, benefits from the sales tax exemption. Accordingly, Wiccan fails to have the adverse interest necessary for standing and is not the proper party to assert the instant constitutional challenge." Wiccan Religious Cooperative of Florida v. Zingale, 898 So. 2d 134 (2005) Here's the opinion. http://opinions.1dca.org/written/opinions2005/3-8-05/03-3324.pdf Christine Corcos Associate Professor of Law Faculty Graduate Studies Program Supervisor Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University Associate Professor, Women's and Gender Studies Program LSU A&M W325 Law Building 1 East Campus Drive Baton Rouge LA 70803 tel: 225/578-8327 fax: 225/578-3677 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Douglas Laycock Sent: Monday, November 21, 2005 1:18 PM To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics Subject: RE: Challenge to Sales Tax Exemption on Religious Items >From the description, these cases seem to be controlled by Texas Monthly. Am I missing something? Douglas Laycock University of Texas Law School 727 E. Dean Keeton St. Austin, TX 78705 512-232-1341 (phone) 512-471-6988 (fax) -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Friedman, Howard M. Sent: Monday, November 21, 2005 1:01 PM To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics Subject: RE: Challenge to Sales Tax Exemption on Religious Items A similar case has recently been filed in Georgia. See http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2005/11/aclu-challenges-sales-tax-exe mption.html ************************************* Howard M. Friedman Disting. Univ. Professor Emeritus University of Toledo College of Law Toledo, OH 43606-3390 Phone: (419) 530-2911, FAX (419) 530-4732 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************* -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of James Maule Sent: Monday, November 21, 2005 1:24 PM To: religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu Subject: Challenge to Sales Tax Exemption on Religious Items I don't recall if this was previously posted, or perhaps a story about the case in earlier stages of the proceedings had been posted. Sorry for any duplication. From: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1132308316504 Wiccan Lawsuit May Spell Toil, Taxes and Trouble for Fla. Justices Carl Jones Daily Business Review 11-21-2005 The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to hear a constitutional challenge to a Florida law exempting sales taxes on religious books. A divided Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to accept the case, filed by a nonprofit Orlando-based Wiccan group, and hear oral arguments on its merits. The case centers on a Florida law that exempts sales and use tax on "religious publications, bibles, hymn books, prayer books, vestments, altar paraphernalia, sacramental chalices, and like church service and ceremonial raiments and equipment." The lower appellate court opinion reveals the Wiccan group was exempted from paying sales tax on copies of the Bible and Quran, but forced to pay sales tax on the Satanic Bible and the Witches Bible. The question before the court is whether a tax-exempt organization, like a religious group, has a right to challenge a state tax exemption that benefits them. ******* [the rest of the story is at the cited URL] Jim Maule Professor of Law, Villanova University School of Law Villanova PA 19085 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://vls.law.vill.edu/prof/maule mauledagain.blogspot.com President, TaxJEM Inc (computer assisted tax law instruction) (www2.taxjem.com) Publisher, JEMBook Publishing Co. (www.jembook.com) Maule Family Archivist & Genealogist (www.maulefamily.com) _______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others. _______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others. _______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others. _______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
