Supreme Court of the United States - Roberts Court 2018
A fascinating case has made its way to the US Supreme Court.
In 2018, Catholic Social Services, an arm of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, took the city to court accusing it of violating the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and religion.
This came about because the city of Philadelphia refused to place children for foster care with Catholic Social Services because the agency bars same-sex couples from serving as foster parents.
The lower court ruled in favour of the city, saying that the religious views of the organization did not entitle it to an exemption from the city’s anti-discrimination policies.
However, Catholic Social Services been providing foster care services for more than 100 years, and says it will be forced to close that operation if it is unable to participate in Philadelphia's programme. Catholic Social Services says there is a foster care crisis in the city and available foster homes at sitting empty.
So let's work on two axioms:
- Same-sex couples have the same rights as mixed-sex couples because freedom of association (among others)
- Catholics have the right to decide how they run their institutions because freedom of religion (among others)
How would you decide this case?
The case will be heard in the Supreme Court’s next term starting October.
