PHILADELPHIA – Stradley Ronon Partner Mark E. Chopko served as a panelist at New York University School of Law’s National Center on Philanthropy and the Law Annual Conference on Oct. 26. Chopko’s panel, “Fundamental Public Policy for Churches: Arguments and Problems,” discussed the current and potential applicability of Bob Jones University to churches. Chopko noted that, notwithstanding the broad language of Bob Jones University seeming to allow the IRS to measure entitlement to tax exemption against "fundamental public policy," using that benchmark against churches and their ministries will inevitably infringe their First Amendment rights.
Chopko chairs Stradley Ronon’s nonprofit and religious organizations practice group and advises clients, including colleges and universities, in matters involving structural, business, governance, regulatory and complex litigation. He specializes in defending religious organizations and also teaches a seminar on church-state law at Georgetown University Law Center. A former general counsel for the U.S. Conference on Catholic Bishops, he has participated in more than 30 Supreme Court cases as counsel for religious groups in friend-of-the-Court briefs.
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