for the District of South Carolina. The Government counterclaimed for unpaid federal unemployment taxes for the taxable years 1971 through 1975, in the amount of $489,675.59, plus interest. The District Court ruled December 26, 1978, that the IRS had violated the University's First Amendment rights, and ordered the IRS to refund the University the $21 of taxes that it had paid. The United States Court of Appeals of the Fourth Circuit ruled that the case be sent back to the District Court. Supreme Court decision Bob Jones University v. United States was decided May 24, 1983, in an 8–1 decision with majority opinion written by Warren E. Burger, and joined by William J. Brennan, Byron R. White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry A. Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, and Sandra Day O'Connor. The Court, speaking through Burger, read a "common law" public interest requirement into the statute governing tax-exempt charitable status, and cited Congress' refusal to intervene as proof that they approved of the IRS's construction of the statute. The Court applied a strict scrutiny analysis and found that the "Government has a fundamental, overriding interest in eradicating racial discrimination in education . . . which substantially outweighs whatever burden denial of tax benefits places on [the University's] exercise of their religious beliefs." The Court made clear, however, that its holding dealt "only with religious schools—not with churches or other purely religious institutions." Lewis F. Powell wrote a separate concurring opinion, emphasizing the importance of Congressional approval for administrative policy changes. William H. Rehnquist was the sole dissenter, arguing that the literal terms of the governing statute could not be read to exclude Bob Jones from charitable status. Aftermath The case has been cited in many decisions that followed as well as by commentators, due to the significance of the precedent established in this case. In 2000 BJU president Bob Jones III announced on Larry King Live that its ban on interracial dating had been dropped. The change was stimulated by a media uproar prompted by a visit of then-presidential candidate George W. Bush. In February 2017, BJU president Steve Pettit announced that Bob Jones University had regained its tax-exempt status. See also List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 461 Coit v. Green (1971) Notes and references External links United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court United States free exercise of religion case law