{"id":566735,"date":"2021-06-17T11:22:25","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T15:22:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=566735"},"modified":"2021-06-17T11:22:27","modified_gmt":"2021-06-17T15:22:27","slug":"supreme-court-rules-9-0-in-favor-of-catholic-foster-care-agency-that-refused-to-work-with-same-sex-couples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-rules-9-0-in-favor-of-catholic-foster-care-agency-that-refused-to-work-with-same-sex-couples\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court Rules 9-0 In Favor Of Catholic Foster Care Agency That Refused To Work With Same-Sex Couples"},"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\">36<\/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%2Fsupreme-court-rules-9-0-in-favor-of-catholic-foster-care-agency-that-refused-to-work-with-same-sex-couples%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=566735&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--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-451513836-1200x800-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>The Supreme Court defied expectations on Thursday, issuing a unanimous \u2014 but limited \u2014 ruling in favor of a Catholic foster care agency that was targeted by Philadelphia authorities for refusing to consider same-sex couples as adoptive parents.<\/p>\n<p>The Court ruled, 9-0, that \u201cPhiladelphia violated the First Amendment when it froze the contract of a Catholic Foster Care Agency that refused to work with same-sex couples as potential foster parents because the agency believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/06\/17\/politics\/supreme-court-fulton\/index.html\">according to CNN<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe dispute arose because Catholic Social Services \u2014 which was receiving taxpayer funds \u2014 was unwilling to work with LGBTQ couples as foster parents out of religious objections to same sex marriage. The policy was brought to the attention of the city in 2018 after inquiries from a local newspaper, and soon after the government put a freeze on the contract. The group, led by long-time foster parent Sharonell Fulton who has fostered more than 40 children over 25 years, brought suit,\u201d the outlet noted.<\/p>\n<p>The agency had never been approached by nor turned away a same-sex couple seeking to adopt, per the group\u2019s brief.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe issue before the court was whether Philadelphia could require foster agencies to comply with its non-discrimination law,\u201d CNN added. The agency argued that it should not be forced to violate its religious principles in order to qualify for government contracts.<\/p>\n<p>In ruling for Catholic Social Services, Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court, \u00a0acknowledged that CSS \u201cseeks only an accommodation that will allow it to continue serving the children of Philadelphia in a manner consistent with its religious beliefs; it does not seek to impose those beliefs on anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe 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\u2026violates the First Amendment,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The six justices included in the majority opinion also noted that foster care agencies are not public accommodations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCertification as a foster parent\u2026is 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,\u201d Roberts noted in his opinion, writing for those six justices.<\/p>\n<p>The ruling, however, was limited; although both the agency, Catholic Social Services, and three of the Court\u2019s conservative justices \u2014 Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Clarence Thomas, and Justice Neil Gorsuch \u2014 wanted the Court to go further, overturning the landmark case,\u00a0<em>Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith<\/em>, and allow broad religious exemptions to anti-discrimination laws.<\/p>\n<p><em>Employment Div. v. Smith <\/em>is a 1990 decision \u201cthat said religious groups are not exempt from general local, state, and federal laws, including those banning discrimination. A decision to overturn that ruling would make it easier for businesses to claim a religious exemption from laws that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. But civil liberties groups say it would blunt efforts to fight discrimination,\u201d per NBC News.<\/p>\n<p>Thursday\u2019s decision carves out a very specific exemption to anti-discrimination laws, but as Justice Alito noted in his concurring opinion, it is not likely to have a wider impact on First Amendment jurisprudence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Court has emitted a wisp of a decision that leaves religious liberty in a confused and vulnerable state,\u201d Alito said. \u201cThose who count on this Court to stand up for the First Amendment have every right to be disappointed \u2014 as am I.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Experts suggested that, as in previous decisions, Roberts may have stepped in to press \u201cincrementalism\u201d \u2014 a slower, more measured approach at changing precedent.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"10.615384615385\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Yes. CJ Roberts stepped in again for incrementalism, and it looks like he persuaded the liberal justices to go along with him to prevent the more conservative justices from overturning Smith. <\/p>\n<p>There will be pages and pages written about this. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/umc4HUy5jl\">https:\/\/t.co\/umc4HUy5jl<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gabrielmalor\/status\/1405532373337346051?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 17, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty hailed the opinion as a \u201c<span class=\"css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0\">victory for heroic foster moms and for <\/span><span class=\"r-18u37iz\"><a class=\"css-4rbku5 css-18t94o4 css-901oao css-16my406 r-1n1174f r-1loqt21 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0\" dir=\"ltr\" role=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/religiousfreedom?src=hashtag_click\">#religiousfreedom<\/a><\/span><span class=\"css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0\">.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0\">In a statement, the group noted that the ruling \u201censures that religious groups like Catholic Social Services\u2014who serve kids regardless of their race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation\u2014can continue their great work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and <\/i><i>entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Court defied expectations on Thursday, issuing a unanimous \u2014 but limited \u2014 ruling in favor of a Catholic foster care agency that was targeted by Philadelphia authorities for &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2280573,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-451513836-1200x800-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Supreme Court Rules 9-0 In Favor Of Catholic Foster Care Agency That Refused To Work With Same-Sex Couples","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-566735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-451513836-1200x800-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Supreme Court Rules 9-0 In Favor Of Catholic Foster Care Agency That Refused To Work With Same-Sex Couples","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566735","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2280573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}