WASHINGTON (AP/77WABC) — The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously sided with a Catholic foster care agency that says its religious views prevent it from working with same-sex couples as foster parents. The justices said the city of Philadelphia wrongly limited its relationship with the group as a result of the agency’s policy.
Philadelphia violated the Constitution in limiting its work with the agency, Catholic Social Services, the court said.
“The refusal of Philadelphia to contract with CSS for the provision of foster care services unless it agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents cannot survive strict scrutiny, and violates the First Amendment,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.
The ultimate decision in the Catholic Social Services case was unanimous. Writing for a six-justice majority, Chief Justice John Roberts narrowly interpreted Philadelphia’s anti-discrimination ordinance and found it did not cover the Catholic group’s work certifying foster parents. He said such work does not amount to the kind of “public accommodation” that cannot discriminate on the basis of race, religion or sexual orientation.
“Certification as a foster parent…is not readily accessible to the public. It involves a customized and selective assessment that bears little resemblance to staying in a hotel, eating at a restaurant, or riding a bus,” Roberts wrote.
The court’s three liberals and two of Roberts’ conservative colleagues, Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, went along with that analysis.
