2025年11月8日星期六

账单/案件/国税局

美国国税局和国家宗教广播公司提出教会例外的约翰逊修正案

Nat'l Religious Broadcasters v. Long; 24 - cv - 00311

国家宗教广播电台等。原告v。

比利·朗，以他作为美国国税局局长的官方身份，等等。被告

美国地方法院

德州东区泰勒分部

申请同意判决的共同动议

Plaintiffs 国家宗教广播电台 and Intercessors for America, and Plaintiff Churches (Sand Springs Church and First Baptist Church Waskom), and 被告 Billy Long,1 in his official capacity as Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), (collectively “the Parties”), stipulate and jointly move this Court to approve and enter the attached proposed consent judgment as a final resolution of all of the claims presented in the Amended Complaint, ECF 20。为支持其动议，各缔约国声明如下：

原告于2024年8月28日对被告提起诉讼。参见ECF 1。

The Parties agree the Court has jurisdiction over this action under 28 U.S.C. §1331 and venue is proper under 28 U.S.C. §1391(b).

Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint concerns the portion of Internal Revenue Code §501(c)(3) referred to as the “Johnson Amendment,” which requires certain organizations including churches to refrain from participating or intervening in campaigns for public office as a condition for their non-profit, tax-exempt status. See generally ECF 20 (discussing 26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3)). 具体而言，原告声称，约翰逊修正案在表面上和在适用上侵犯了他们的第一修正案关于言论自由和宗教自由的权利，他们的第五修正案关于正当法律程序和法律平等保护的权利，以及《恢复宗教自由法》。参见ECF 20第46-56页。

Plaintiffs ask this Court to enter declaratory relief that the Johnson Amendment unconstitutionally prohibits §501(c)(3) organizations from engaging in political speech and injunctive relief to prohibit enforcement of the Johnson Amendment insofar as it operates to prohibit political speech. ecf20在56。

双方同意，本法院有权根据《美国宪法》和《1789年司法法案》，就本动议所要求的原告提供禁令。

The text of the Johnson Amendment may cause certain otherwise tax-exempt organizations to lose their §501(c)(3) status if they “participate in, or intervene in . . ., any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.” 26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3).

When a house of worship in good faith speaks to its congregation, through its customary channels of communication on matters of faith in connection with religious services, concerning electoral politics viewed through the lens of religious faith, it neither “participate[s]” nor “intervene[s]” in a “political campaign,” within the ordinary meaning of those words. To “participate” in a political campaign is “to take part” in the political campaign, and to “intervene” in a political campaign is “to interfere with the outcome or course” of the political campaign. See Participate, Merriam-Webster's Dictionary (2025); Intervene, Merriam-Webster's Dictionary (2025). 礼拜场所内部、礼拜场所与会众之间的真诚交流，以及与宗教仪式有关的交流，都不会做这些事情，就像家庭讨论候选人一样。因此，礼拜场所通过其通常的沟通渠道就宗教事务与会众进行沟通，如果得到适当的解释，并不违反《约翰逊修正案》。

This interpretation of the Johnson Amendment is in keeping with the IRS's treatment of the Johnson Amendment in practice. As recounted in Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint, the IRS generally has not enforced the Johnson Amendment against houses of worship for speech concerning electoral politics in the context of worship services. ecf20在30-42； see Executive Order 13798 (May 9, 2017) (“[T]he Secretary of Treasury shall ensure, to the extent permitted by law, that the Department of the Treasury does not take any adverse action against any . . . 礼拜堂…… 基于…… organization speaks or has spoken about moral or political issues from a religious perspective, where speech of similar character has, consistent with law, not ordinarily been treated as participation of intervention in a political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) a candidate for public office by the Department of Treasury.”).

宪法回避原则主张对《约翰逊修正案》进行解释，使其不通过通常的宗教事务沟通渠道，从礼拜场所向其会众传达与宗教服务有关的信息。例如，Edward J. DeBartolo Corp.诉佛罗里达州案。墨西哥湾沿岸建筑工程公司 Trades Council, 485 U.S. 568, 575 (1988) (“[W]here an otherwise acceptable construction of a statute would raise serious constitutional problems, the Court will construe the statute to avoid such problems unless such construction is plainly contrary to the intent of Congress.”). 对许多礼拜场所来说，其宗教信仰的实践包括教导或指导其会众关于生活的所有方面，包括关于信仰对选举政治中固有选择的影响的指导。 Interpreting the Johnson Amendment to reach such communications would create serious tension with the First Amendment's Establishment Clause: That broad interpretation would treat religions that do not speak directly to matters of electoral politics more favorably than religions that do so — favoring some religions over others based on their speech to their own congregations in connection with religious services through customary channels of worship and religious communication. 参见天主教慈善局公司诉威斯康星州劳工和印度河。 Rev. Comm'n, 145 S. Ct. 1583, 1591 (2025) (“'The clearest command of the Establishment Clause' is that the government may not 'officially prefe[r]' one religious denomination over another.” （引自Larson v. Valente, 456 U.S. 228, 246(1982)）。

由于这些原因，约翰逊修正案没有规定礼拜场所通过其惯常的沟通渠道就信仰问题向其会众发表讲话，涉及通过宗教信仰的视角看待选举政治。

据此，双方请求本院颁布所附的拟议命令，禁止被告及其继任者、代理人和雇员根据教堂通过其惯常的沟通渠道就宗教服务向其会众发表的有关宗教信仰问题的言论，对原告教会执行《约翰逊修正案》，这些渠道涉及宗教信仰视角下的选举政治。

To the extent Plaintiffs' claims are not resolved by the proposed Consent Judgment, the Parties hereby agree and stipulate to the dismissal of all such claims with prejudice via entry of the Proposed Consent Judgment. 参见联邦储备委员会。 41页。 Plaintiffs likewise release any and all claims that could have been asserted in this action or concerning the subject matter of this action, conditioned on this Court's entry of the proposed Consent Judgment.

如法院作出同意判决，各方均放弃就建议的同意判决提出上诉的权利。

双方还同意，每一方将承担自己的成本和费用。

The proposed consent judgment is “not unconstitutional, unlawful, . . . contrary to public policy, or unreasonable.” 美国诉迈阿密市，第614卷第2卷第1322卷第1333卷（1980年第5卷）（认识到拟议的同意法令须适用有效性推定）。事实上，拟议的同意判决是基于对约翰逊修正案的最佳解读，尊重宪法原则，出于这些理由，既非常合理，又促进了公共利益。看，例如，Exec。 Order 13798, 82 Fed. Reg. 21675 (May 4, 2017) (“The Founders envisioned a Nation in which religious voices and views were integral to a vibrant public square, and in which religious people and institutions were free to practice their faith without fear of discrimination or retaliation by the Federal Government.”).

基于上述原因，双方恭敬地提请本院将拟议的同意判决作为本院的一项命令完整生效。

恭敬地提交,

迈克尔·法里斯

直流排385969号

国家宗教广播电台

街20楼

七楼

2001年，华盛顿特区

571-359-6000

[email protected]

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