EXCLUSIVE: Legal institute celebrates SCOTUS decision, declares 'religious liberty is alive and well'

"This was not a hard call," Tiffany Dunkin, a legal fellow and attorney with the First Liberty Institute, emphasized in an interview with Fox News Digital, citing Thursday's unanimous SCOTUS decision to strike down Wisconsin's attempt to withhold a religious tax exemption because the CCB does not proselytize or serve only Catholics.

"What they were doing was deciding what it means to be religious," she added. "And the First Amendment prohibits the government from doing that."

Catholic Charities, affiliated with the Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin, provides critical care services for people with disabilities and mental health needs. Wisconsin argued those acts were not "primarily religious."

The Supreme Court disagreed.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing the opinion for the court, stated clearly that the government has no authority to assess or rank the religious nature of charitable work.

Dunkin said the consequences of the ruling go far beyond Wisconsin.

"This is actually a pretty ongoing problem across the country," she noted. 

Other clients of Plano, Texas-based First Liberty in Colorado and Arizona have faced similar arguments from local governments, which question whether providing food, clothing or shelter to those in need is inherently religious. 

"Even though there are churches doing this kind of work, the governments are saying, 'Well, you're not religious enough,'" Dunkin said.

The court's language in the ruling, Dunkin pointed out, "affirms what the Supreme Court has said for nearly a century," that the government cannot choose which expressions of faith are valid.

Had SCOTUS ruled the other way, Dunkin warned, it would have "grave implications" for religious charities and ministries nationwide.

"It would allow the government to step into the religious doctrine of all faiths more than our Founding Fathers ever intended," she said. "The government cannot step in and get involved in deciding and picking and choosing between one type of religious activity and another."

And for those who may see this as a one-off legal win? Not so fast.