A federal judge declined on March 31 to hear a settlement pact that sought to allow churches to endorse political candidates without losing their tax-exempt status.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Judge John Campbell Barker ruled he had no authority to enter a settlement agreement proposed by the IRS and the plaintiffs that would have required the court to declare the Johnson Amendment, a 70-year-old federal law, unconstitutional.
Barker said he didn’t have the authority to approve the proposed judgment.
Congress “‘is the appropriate body to weigh the relevant, policy-laden considerations, such as the harshness of the present law, the consequences of an unjustified revocation of [tax-exempt] status, and the number of organizations in any year threatened with such revocation,’” the judge wrote in the order….
Texas Judge Won’t Hear Pact Seeking to Allow Churches to Endorse Political Candidates
