As the election season gets underway, public attention has increasingly turned to the speech rights of charities and religious groups. Leaders of All Saints Episcopal Church, the Pasadena, CA church under investigation for alleged partisanship in 2004, announced they unanimously voted to refuse to comply with IRS requests, setting the stage for a legal battle that could significantly impact the rights of 501(c)(3) organizations. Two members of Congress wrote the IRS questioning its enforcement program and citing the All Saints case. Another case - Operation Rescue West - illustrates the consequences of egregious violations. And church-state separation advocates announced a mailing to 100,000 congregations warning against partisan activities. All Saints Church refuses IRS document request The IRS initiated an audit of All Saints Church following anti-war remarks delivered before the 2004 general election during a church sermon, which envisioned what Jesus would say to both candidates about the issues of peace, and poverty among others. In June 2005, the IRS notified All Saints of the inquiry, citing a Nov. 1, 2004 Los Angeles Times story that characterized the sermon as a "searing indictment of the Bush administration's policies in Iraq." Following a Sept. 2005 conference call between the IRS and church representatives, the IRS offered a deal: if the church would admit wrongdoing and agree not to allow similar sermons in the future, the IRS would not pursue the case further. All Saints rejected the offer. In an October 2005 follow-up letter, the IRS told All Saints that the agency would be sending an information request in the near future. Nothing was heard until July 2006, when the IRS sent an informal request to the church. In response, an attorney for All Saints, Marcus Owens, replied to the IRS request by contending that questions in the informal request were too broad and would require voluminous research, proving to be unduly burdensome. He also affirmed All Saints' right to challenge the procedure used by the IRS in conducting the audit. Church officials felt the second request was also unduly intrusive and requested an official summons. Among the requested details in the summons are minutes of church meeting from 2004, an accounting of all expenditures associated with the sermon, various copies of church policy and planning documents, and any audio/visual documentation of the sermon in question. On Sept. 15 Owens told reporters, "These substantive and procedural problems are crucial in the All Saints case because of the sweeping First Amendment implications of the government's examination. The recent unilateral reversal of the IRS position in the NAACP case raises a serious question as to whether the IRS has any legal basis for continuing its review of All Saints." In comments made to his congregation (subscription required) on Sept. 17, the current leader of All Saints, the Rev. Ed Bacon, was very clear about why the church feels it must contest the IRS action, saying, "Neutrality, silence and indifference are not an option for us. We must express our conscience in word and deed or we will lose our soul in addition to losing our way. If the IRS is successful in chilling the voices in American pulpits and houses of worship, religion in America will lose all relevance and moral authority." Members of Congress Write IRS About the PACI Program On Sept. 18 two members of Congress expressed their concern about the chilling impact of the IRS's Political Activity Compliance Initiative (PACI) program in a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and IRS Commissioner Mark Everson. Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Walter Jones (R-NC) argue that the program threatens nonprofits' First Amendment rights to discuss matters of public policy. The letter cites All Saints Church, which is located in Schiff's district, and the NAACP as examples of tax-exempt organizations that took a position on a public policy issue and paid for it with an IRS investigation. The congressmen contend that the IRS "facts and circumstances" test for determining whether an act is improper political intervention is "far too vague to ensure that not-for-profits understand their limitations on speech." The letter also cites a recent OMB Watch report that showed the "IRS exaggerated the extent of non-compliance" in its February report on the PACI program. The members of Congress demanded a response to this inconsistency and hinted at the possibility of legislation if the response is not adequate. Operation Rescue West Loses 501(c)(3) status On Sept. 11 the IRS revoked the tax-exempt status of an anti-abortion group, Operation Rescue West. Although the IRS did not give a reason for the action when it announced the revocation, Catholics for Free Choice issued a statement that it had filed a complaint against Operation Rescue 2004 after it published an ad that "promised tax deductions for contributions to help defeat the Democratic Presidential candidate, John Kerry." Operation Rescue West officials were unfazed by the revocation. The group's outreach coordinator told reporters, "We have reorganized as simply Operation Rescue...Losing our tax exemption doesn't have much of an effect on us, one way or the other." Americans United for Separation of Church and State Sends Letters Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) has announced a plan to inform churches about the federal tax law prohibition on partisan intervention in elections. Citing IRS commissioner Mark Everson, the group explained in a press release that most of the nonprofits being investigated for non-compliance are churches. The AU effort takes aim at groups such as Focus on the Family in recruiting religious congregations for election activities, with AU director the Rev. Barry Lynn calling such recruitment "a religious Tammany Hall." AU notes that partisan political groups' involvement with religious organizations creates a direct danger to their tax-exempt status. The campaign is set to deliver letters to 117,000 places of worship spread across 8 battleground states in the upcoming election.