{"id":2697138,"date":"2026-11-03T16:15:02","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T21:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignscotus-grills-colorado-for-boxing-christians-out-of-universal-preschool-program\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T16:21:48","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T21:21:48","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignscotus-grills-colorado-for-boxing-christians-out-of-universal-preschool-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignscotus-grills-colorado-for-boxing-christians-out-of-universal-preschool-program\/","title":{"rendered":"SCOTUS Grills CO For Excluding Christians From School Program"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignscotus-grills-colorado-for-boxing-christians-out-of-universal-preschool-program%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2697138&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Teh U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday pressed Colorado over a \u201cuniversal\u201d preschool program that excludes religious schools because they will not sign a state non\u2011discrimination agreement. The dispute, argued in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, centers on whether Colorado\u2019s requirement forces Catholic schools to violate their religious teachings on marriage and biological sex and whether the Court\u2019s 1990 Employment Division v.Smith precedent &#8211; which allows generally applicable laws without religious exemptions &#8211; governs the outcome.<\/p>\n<p>St. Mary\u2019s attorney Nicholas Reaves argued the Catholic schools exist to pass on their faith and require families to support church teachings. He told the justices Colorado treats secular accommodations flexibly but refuses to grant a religious exemption, despite the program\u2019s expansive capacity and the claim that allowing catholic preschools to participate would create, not reduce, spots for families.<\/p>\n<p>Several liberal justices pushed back. Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson warned against creating a special rule that would treat religious people differently under generally applicable laws. Justice Sonia Sotomayor characterized the schools\u2019 refusal as a voluntary choice that results in their exclusion and suggested the dispute boils down to the schools rejecting children because of parents\u2019 sexual orientation &#8211; a point Justice brett Kavanaugh disputed, saying the schools require adherence to all Catholic teachings, not only those about marriage or sex.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-justice-dept-asks-supreme-court-to-save-obamacare\/\" title=\"Biden Justice Dept. Asks ... to Save Obamacare\">deputy solicitor general<\/a>, Helen Norton, faced tough questioning from conservative justices. Justices Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett highlighted past conflicts between Colorado and religious claimants and asked whether Colorado\u2019s policy was effectively designed to bar religious schools. Alito presented a hypothetical about banning head coverings to probe whether a facially neutral rule that burdens religious practice would pass under Smith; Norton conceded a neutral, generally applicable rule would not trigger heightened scrutiny. Kavanaugh also questioned Colorado\u2019s apparent allowance of other kinds of school preferences while excluding explicitly religious schools.<\/p>\n<p>Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch seemed skeptical of Colorado\u2019s stance, and chief Justice John Roberts challenged both sides on the general applicability issue. The Court did not issue a ruling; a decision in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy is expected later in the 2026 term.<\/p>\n<p>Byline: Shawn Fleetwood, staff writer for The Federalist, contributed the original report.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The U.S. Supreme Court grilled the state of Colorado on Tuesday for administering a \u201cuniversal\u201d preschool program that excludes Christian schools. <\/p>\n<p>The issue was the focus of the high court\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/program\/public-affairs-event\/supreme-court-hears-case-on-religious-schools-lgbtq-protections\/687362\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">oral arguments<\/a> in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/st-mary-catholic-parish-v-roy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy<\/a><\/em>, in which several Catholic parents and schools allege that the state\u2019s requirement that schools sign a \u201cnon-discrimination\u201d agreement to access the program violates their First Amendment rights and religious views on marriage and biological sex. The case also deals with the court\u2019s 1990 <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oyez.org\/cases\/1989\/88-1213\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Employment Division v. Smith<\/a><\/em>  decision, which held that the First Amendment does not require religious exemptions for laws considered to be \u201cgenerally applicable\u201d (that is, laws which apply uniformly to everyone and are not tailored toward a specific group, individuals, or conduct).<\/p>\n<p>Kicking off Tuesday\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/oral_arguments\/argument_transcripts\/2026\/25-581_h3cj.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">arguments<\/a> was St. Mary attorney Nicholas Reaves. He noted how the Catholic schools \u201cexist to pass on the faith to the next generation,\u201d and that, in order \u201cto do this, they ask all families who enroll to be open to and supportive of the church\u2019s teachings\u201d \u2014 including those on marriage and sex. Reaves further contended that the lower courts misapplied <em>Smith<\/em> and that the Centennial State \u201chas flexibly interpreted the [non-discrimination] mandate to accommodate important secular interests, but it\u2019s called the same law a hard limit when petitioners sought a religious accommodation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cColorado has discretion \u2026 to permit preschools to organize around \u2018specific competencies or interests\u2019 and to serve \u2018specific communities.\u2019 Yet it has refused to extend that flexible treatment to [Catholic] petitioners,\u201d Reaves said. \u201cLetting families use universal preschool funding at Catholic schools won\u2019t take away a single seat from the over 2,000 preschools already participating in the program. In fact, letting Catholic schools in will create more seats for everyone, even for families who disagree with Catholic teachings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reaves\u2019 arguments faced immediate pushback from the court\u2019s Democrat appointees.<\/p>\n<p>Justices Elena Kagan<strong> <\/strong>and Ketanji Brown Jackson suggested that Reaves is asking SCOTUS to go \u201cbeyond\u201d its existing precedents on the issue to produce a ruling that creates a \u201cspecial rule\u201d for religious Americans that would, according to Kagan, treat them \u201cdifferently from other people\u201d under generally applicable laws \u201cbecause of their religious faith.\u201d Justice Sonia Sotomayor, on the other hand, seemingly defended Colorado by claiming that the Catholic schools\u2019 decision to forgo signing the agreement at odds with their faith and subsequent inability to access the preschool program is a choice of their own making. <\/p>\n<p>Sotomayor also attempted to sum up the case\u2019s \u201cbottom line\u201d as being an effort among the Catholic schools to \u201creject \u2026 child[ren] merely because their parents are homosexual.\u201d That point was later refuted by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who underscored that the Catholic schools are requiring interested students and parents to abide by <em>all<\/em> the Catholic Church\u2019s teachings, not solely those related to marriage and sex.<\/p>\n<p>On the flip side, Colorado Deputy Solicitor General Helen Norton endured her fair share of tough questions from many of the court\u2019s Republican appointees.<\/p>\n<p>In questioning Norton, Justices Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett both referenced Colorado\u2019s rampant history of hostility toward Christians in the state. This included mentions of recent Supreme Court decisions rejecting the Democrat-led state\u2019s efforts to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oyez.org\/cases\/2017\/16-111\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">force<\/a> a Christian baker to design a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, browbeat a Christian web designer into <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/30\/in-landmark-free-speech-decision-supreme-court-rules-government-cant-force-americans-like-lorie-smith-to-violate-religious-beliefs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">making<\/a> a wedding webpage for a same-sex couple, and stop Christian therapists from <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/31\/8-1-scotus-nukes-egregious-colorado-ban-on-therapists-helping-gender-confused-clients\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">helping<\/a> kids confused by gender ideology.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat should we make of all this?\u201d Alito asked of the Centennial State\u2019s anti-Christian lawfare.<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>To further underscore the absurdity of the existing general applicability standard and its conflict with religious exercise, Alito asked Norton whether a hypothetical Colorado rule for its preschools that bans teachers from wearing head coverings \u2014 which would conflict with certain religions and their practices \u2014 would be permissible. Norton admitted that if the state determined the rule is \u201cneutral\u201d and \u201cgenerally applicable,\u201d it would not warrant a heightened standard of review under the First Amendment and therefore be allowed.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Barrett questioned Colorado on its decision to adopt a condition for its preschool program that the state \u201cknow[s] that [the Catholic] schools will be unable to agree to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition to reaffirming the country\u2019s longstanding principle that religious Americans\u2019 rights are to be \u201crespected,\u201d Kavanaugh similarly grilled Norton on Colorado\u2019s preschool program rules. He notably pressed the deputy solicitor general regarding \u201call the other preferences that are in Colorado law\u201d that seemingly permit preschools to discriminate on characteristics other than religion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor example, I notice one preference that\u2019s allowed, schools are allowed to have preference for parents who will be more involved in the school. \u2026 That almost inherently discriminates against single-parent families, inherently discriminates against families with two-income parents in the real world,\u201d Kavanaugh said. \u201c[Y]ou can have a vegetarian school, but you can\u2019t have a Catholic school; you can\u2019t have a Jewish school. \u2026 How do you respond to those concerns?\u201d<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Justice Kavanaugh tells Colorado that, even in light of the Supreme Court\u2019s past Obergefell decision, religious Americans\u2019 rights are to be \u201crespected.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mufLioHXqP\">pic.twitter.com\/mufLioHXqP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Shawn Fleetwood (@ShawnFleetwood) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ShawnFleetwood\/status\/2117671955864354938?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 3, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch also appeared skeptical of Colorado\u2019s arguments. Chief Justice John Roberts similarly posed tough questions for Norton but also pressed Reaves on the general applicability principle he asked the court to adopt.<\/p>\n<p>A decision in <em>St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy<\/em> is not expected to be released until later in the Supreme Court\u2019s 2026 term. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SCOTUS weighs Colorado&#8217;s universal preschool exclusion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2697139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Supreme-Court.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[5695,6024,72820,87447,6994],"class_list":["post-2697138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-christianity","tag-colorado","tag-religious-liberty-2","tag-school-program","tag-scotus"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Supreme-Court.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2697138"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2697142,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697138\/revisions\/2697142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2697139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2697138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2697138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2697138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}