Supreme Court justices from across the ideological spectrum expressed deep concern Monday about the denial of a state tax exemption for Catholic Charities on the grounds that the nonprofit is not “operated primarily for religious purposes.

The U.S. Supreme Court appeared sympathetic on Monday toward a bid by an arm of a Catholic diocese in Wisconsin for a religious exemption from the state's unemployment insurance tax in the latest religious rights case to reach the justices.

The Supreme Court on Monday appeared sympathetic to the argument by a Catholic Charities chapter that Wisconsin violated the Constitution when it refused to give the group the same exemption from the state’s unemployment tax that it provides to churches,