Professor Brownstein Comments for The Atlantic on Tax-Exempt Organizations and Political Activity

Professor Emeritus Alan Brownstein commented for The Atlantic on Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump's promise to repeal the so-called Johnson Amendment, a 1954 law that prohibits tax-exempt organizations from participating in political activities.

"Pastors can say whatever they want, as can anyone else," Brownstein said. "The question is whether a tax-exempt institution can say whatever it wants and retain its tax-exempt status, and whether the pastor as an official can use his or her position in the tax-exempt institution to engage in electioneering."

Professor Brownstein, a nationally recognized Constitutional Law scholar, taught Constitutional Law, Law and Religion, and Torts at UC Davis School of Law for more than 30 years. Prior to his retirement from teaching, he held the Boochever and Bird Endowed Chair for the Study and Teaching of Freedom and Equality.

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