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The dispute arose because the Catholic Social Services – which was receiving taxpayer money – were unwilling to work with same-sex couples as adoptive parents due to religious objections to same-sex marriage. The policy was brought to the city’s attention in 2018 after inquiries from a local newspaper, and shortly after the government put the contract on hold. The group, led by longtime adoptive parent Sharonell Fulton who has cared for more than 40 children over 25 years, filed the lawsuit.
The issue before the court was whether Philadelphia could require custodial agencies to comply with the nondiscrimination law.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion of six of the nine justices. Justices Thomas Alito and Neil Gorsuch joined in the score, but they didn’t join the majority logic – and he was disappointed with the outcome.
“The court issued a feature of the decision that leaves religious freedom in a muddled and weak state,” Alito wrote. “Those who depend on this court to defend the First Amendment have every right to be disappointed – as am I.”
Alito could have gone much further in bypassing previous decades and making it more difficult for the government to enforce laws that burdened the religious beliefs of some individuals.
They said they would have vetoed the 1990 case that said if a legal requirement applied equally to everyone, even if it burdened religious practice, it would be constitutional as long as the government had a rationale for the law.
“Today’s decision is another victory for religious groups, but it’s not the major victory they sought,” said Steve Vladeck, a CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas Law School.
“The Court’s three most conservative justices wanted to repeal three decades of precedent and subject nearly all government regulations tangentially affecting religious practices to the strictest judicial scrutiny. But Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Kavanaugh and Barrett seem unwilling, or at least not yet ready To take such a step – to make a decision on narrow grounds. ” “It may also explain why none of the three progressive justices objected–lest they encourage the three justices in the middle to increase their number.”
Roberts, with Liberals on the Court as well as Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Connie Barrett, focused on the fact that Philadelphia had not shown good reason to freeze the contract and burden the agency’s religious rights. He noted that there are other agencies available to work with same-sex placements.
“The city’s actions obviously weighed heavily on CSS [Catholic Social Services’] It is a religious practice, he wrote, by placing her on the option of diminishing her mission or agreeing to relationships that are inconsistent with her beliefs.” He added that the agency “seeks only a settlement that would allow her to continue serving the Children of Philadelphia in a manner consistent with her beliefs.” His religious beliefs. It does not seek to impose those beliefs on anyone “.
He noted that the city allowed other exemptions based on marital status or disability but not an exemption for the agency due to its religious beliefs.
Philadelphia attorney Diana Curtis said Thursday she was disappointed with the decision, calling it “difficult and disappointing.”
“With today’s decision, the court has usurped the city’s ruling that its nondiscrimination policy is in the best interests of the children in its care, with disturbing consequences for other government programs and services,” Curtis said. “At the same time, the city is satisfied that the Supreme Court, as the plaintiffs sought, did not fundamentally change existing constitutional law to adopt a standard that would enforce court-ordered religious exceptions from civil obligations in every area.”
Catholic Social Services is a non-profit religious organization affiliated with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia that provides foster care services in the city. It is one of 30 foster care agencies that have a contract with the city that renews annually. When a child in need of foster care enters city foster care, the child is referred, by Human Services, to an foster care agency. This agency selects the appropriate custodial parent for the child. The contract includes language that prohibits agencies from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, or natural origin in accordance with the city’s laws of fair practice.
A federal appeals court ruled in favor of the city, holding that the policy is “neutral law, generally applicable, and religious viewpoints.” [Catholic Social Services] It does not entitle it to be an exception to this policy. The court determined that the custodial agency “failed to provide convincing evidence that the city targeted her because of her religious beliefs, or out of bad faith against her religion, rather than in sincere opposition to discrimination based on sexual orientation.”
The court said the city had acted “in good faith” in seeking to enforce its anti-discrimination laws.
The Catholic charity, represented by the Conservative Beckett Trust, noted that it has served the city for more than 100 years and that no same-sex couples have sought an adoption certificate from the agency.
In court, Laurie Windham told the judges that the agency was making a “modest” request to be able to allow various religious bodies to serve the city and get an exemption from the city’s Fair Practices Act. Instead, she said, the city was trying to tell a private religious ministry “how to manage its internal affairs and try to force it to make statements that contradict its religious beliefs as a condition of continuing to participate in the religious practice they practice.” carried out in Philadelphia for two centuries.”
She urged the court to reconsider the 1990 case, Employment Division v. Smith, a case law that holds that a law stifling the practice of religion is not subject to strict court scrutiny as long as it applies equally to all.
In addition, Windham said Philadelphia violated freedom of speech guarantees by forcing it to deliver “the government’s preferred message on marriage” and showing hostility to its religious beliefs.
Before the election, the Trump administration sided with the Alternative Care Agency and said the city had violated the agency’s rights and showed hostility to its beliefs.
Neil Katial, the city’s attorney, said that while the organization continues to help children through other government contracts, and can support adoptive parents in its own capacity, it cannot contract with the government while avoiding the city’s nondiscrimination clause. He stressed that neither the District Court nor the Court of Appeal found that the agency was targeted because of its religious beliefs.
Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union, which is involved in the case, said it could have “severe consequences” for the more than 400,000 children in foster homes across the country.
This story has been updated with additional details.
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