Hate groups Can Be Denied Tax Exempt Status Constitutionally
Hate groups can be denied tax exempt status constitutionally. But one of the first legislative efforts so obviously violates the First Amendment that it obscures the correct path. In the Connecticut General Assembly, Proposed Bill SB00032 should be rejected because it is unconstitutionally vague and will only embolden and, to a certain extent, legitimize hate groups. If enacted, it would deny state tax exemption for groups that “foment hatred.” The bill is doomed by its focus on “foment” and “hatred.” What are these Yankee yokels thinking, anyway? I’m not even a constitutional scholar and even I can see that! So when the law (if enacted) is inevitably struck down, hate groups will portray themselves as patriots raging against an oppressive government effort to deny their right to free speech. The bill is below. We should applaud the sentiment, if not the effort. I explain in a forthcoming article (I will post it on SSRN after I get a publication offer — its currently in the spring law review submission pool) why and how hate groups can be excluded from tax exemption without running afoul of the right to free speech.
GENERAL Assembly Proposed Bill No. 32 January Session, 2023
Referred to Committee on FINANCE, REVENUE AND BONDING
Introduced by:
SEN. ANWAR, 3rd Dist.
AN ACT PROHIBITING TAX-EXEMPT STATUS FOR HATE GROUPS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly, convened:
That the general statutes be amended to prohibit from eligibility for tax-exempt status any organization that foments hatred against an individual or a group of people or property owned by such individual or group, motivated in whole or in part by race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender or gender identity.
Statement of Purpose:
To prohibit from eligibility for tax-exempt status any organization that is a hate group.
darryll jones