WJI's Daily Reads for June 23, 2022

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Lutheran High School sues City of Milwaukee over denied property tax exemption.

The school paid about $106,000 in property taxes for the dorm in 2021, after city officials rejected their new request last year for an exemption. The school then sought a refund, which the Common Council rejected in March. 

Now taking the fight to court, the school has pro-bono representation from conservative law firm Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. They filed their suit in circuit court Wednesday, arguing that the full services of the dormitory make its purpose "educational" and therefore eligible for exemption. 

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The benefits of rent control for housing stability in Milwaukee.

Rent control helps to promote residential stability. Tenants living in rent-controlled units are far less likely to move out than those in uncontrolled units, which suggests that rent control helps tenants avoid de facto evictions. This has numerous benefits, including positive long-term physical and mental health outcomes, especially for children.

Reuters: Surprising no one, Supreme Court expands gun rights.

The 6-3 ruling, with the court's conservative justices in the majority and liberal justices in dissent, struck down New York state's limits on carrying concealed handguns outside the home. The court found that the law, enacted in 1913, violated a person's right to "keep and bear arms" under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment. . . .

"This ruling contradicts both common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all," (President Joe) Biden said. "In the wake of the horrific attacks in Buffalo and Uvalde, as well as the daily acts of gun violence that do not make national headlines, we must do more as a society - not less - to protect our fellow Americans."

Slate: Will the Supreme Court protect the rights of Jews like it does the rights of Christians?

Enter a synagogue in Florida, which filed a complaint in state court last week claiming that the Florida legislature’s new law, which goes into effect July 1, banning almost all pre-viability abortions, violates the state constitution’s religious liberty provisions, which afford even broader protections than those of the federal Constitution. In the complaint, petitioners note that while Florida seeks to ban abortion at 15 weeks’ gestation, “in Jewish law, abortion is required if necessary to protect the health, mental or physical well-being of the woman, or for many other reasons not permitted under the Act.”

LaviniaGoodell.com: More on the life of Lavinia Goodell, who is included in WJI's Unsung Heroes series.