'Shouldn’t have picked this fight': 5 reactions to Supreme Court's unanimous Catholic charity ruling

1. Eric Rassbach

Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, who represented the Catholic Charities Bureau before the court, celebrated the decision in a statement.

"Wisconsin shouldn't have picked this fight in the first place," stated Rassbach. "It was always absurd to claim that Catholic Charities wasn't religious because it helps everyone, no matter their religion."

"Today, the Court resoundingly reaffirmed a fundamental truth of our constitutional order: the First Amendment protects all religious beliefs, not just those the government favors."

In his arguments, Rassbach told the justices that "the Wisconsin Supreme Court got it wrong when it interpreted a state-law religious exemption to favor what it called 'typical' religious activity and when it held that helping the poor can't be religious, because secular people help the poor too."

"No court would hold that clergy who preach on Saturday are not ministers because preaching on Sunday is more typical. Nor would any court hold that a religious leader who helps the poor isn't a minister because secular leaders help the poor too. By that measure, Mother Teresa might not qualify," he added.

"In short, there is nothing wrong with the statutory text here or with how most legislatures and courts deal with religious accommodations. The problem is how the Wisconsin Supreme Court applied the religious purposes exemption."