9th Circuit: Trial Court Must Reconsider Permissive Intervention By Pastor Into Tax Code Challenge

In Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Geithner, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a federal district court that Pastor Michael Rodgers, a Sacramento area clergyman, has not shown he is entitled to intervene as of right as a defendant in a challenge to the constitutionality of provisions in the federal and California tax codes that allow clergy to exclude from income the parsonage allowance furnished to them. Rodgers argues that the federal government inadequately represents his interest in assuring that the tax provision is upheld. However the appeals court remanded the case to the district court for consideration of whether it should grant permissive intervention, finding the district court had applied incorrect legal criteria in initially denying such intervention. Courthouse News Service reports on the decision.