The Supreme Court's conservative majority offered clear support Tuesday for Catholic preschools that claim Colorado's taxpayer-funded program improperly excludes them by unconstitutionally intruding on their religious rights.
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program → offer → rights
At issue is whether those private education institutions that deny admission to children of LGBTQ+ parents violate state anti-discrimination laws, and can therefore be denied a generally applicable public benefit.
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violate → deny → benefit
It is the latest high-profile religious rights appeal to reach the high court in recent years, several of them originating from Colorado.
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several → reach → Colorado
In a lively two-hour oral argument, the justices debated competing interests involving both religious liberty and a state's interest in ensuring equal opportunity for gay and lesbian parents.
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justices → debate → parents
"I'm hard-pressed to think that, given those [Catholic] teachings, that any homosexual family is going to choose to go to one of these schools, but that should be their choice, not your choice to exclude them," said Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the lawyer for the plaintiffs.
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Sotomayor → press → plaintiffs
"That's what you're asking for...
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you → ask → what
You want an official statement by the State that I will subsidize you with public money even though – because I have a right to reject children.
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I → want → children
But Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the state's motives, however well-intentioned, are promoting a kind of conformity that is not constitutionally permissible.
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that → say → conformity
"Why not seek the win/win?" Kavanaugh asked the attorney for the state.
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Kavanaugh → seek → state
"It seems like this is a would-be solution in search of a problem that is unnecessary to create this clash," he added.
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he → seem → clash
"There's an ability for everyone to go to the school, a good school that's a fit for them, and respect religious rights."
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that → be → rights
Colorado established a Universal Preschool Program (UPK) in a 2020 ballot measure, distributing public funds for participating schools, with the requirement they "provide eligible children an equal opportunity to enroll and receive preschool services regardless of race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, lack of housing, income level, or disability."
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they → establish → housing
Two Catholic parishes sued, arguing the policy targets their sincerely held beliefs about same-sex marriage.
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policy → sue → marriage
The archdiocese in the state manages 34 preschools, with a policy to only admit students from families who support Catholic ideology, including on same-sex relationships and gender identity.
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who → manage → relationships
They seek exemptions to the Colorado law, arguing their exclusion is a form of religious discrimination in violation of the First Amendment.
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exclusion → seek → Amendment
The Trump administration has signaled its support of the religious plaintiffs.
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administration → signal → plaintiffs
The state counters its public benefit conditions are neutral and generally applied to every preschool.
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conditions → counter → preschool
It provides a $6,300 annual benefit per child for up to 15 hours a week of preschool, with money coming from a tobacco tax.
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money → provide → tax
Officials told the nine-member bench that religious schools are free to participate but must abide by nondiscrimination laws, similar to those affecting low-income and disabled students.
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schools → tell → students
As part of its review of the Colorado dispute, the high court will decide whether to narrow a 36-year-old precedent that religious practices do not create exemptions from broadly applicable laws.
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practices → decide → laws
The First Amendment states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
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Congress → state → exercise
The Supreme Court in prior decades had focused on the first part, ensuring a constitutional separation of church and state, when disputes over religious rights reached the public sphere.
But the current conservative bench in the past few years — led by Justice Samuel Alito — has trended toward favoring religious institutions raising "free exercise" claims.
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institutions → focus → claims
The justices have separately backed a Colorado baker, mental health counselor and website developer, who all challenged the state's anti-discrimination policies.
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who → back → policies
The oral arguments Tuesday seemed to divide along ideological lines.
Conservative justices focused on the "free exercise" claims by the Catholic parishes that state requirements for receiving public benefits amounted to religious discrimination.
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requirements → seem → discrimination
"Explain what the difference is between [explicitly excluding Catholic schools] and then choosing to impose a condition that you know that those schools will be unable to agree to?" said Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
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Barrett → explain → that
But Justice Elena Kagan cited the court's prior cases, which she said affirmed the idea "you can't treat religious institutions differently.
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you → cite → institutions
"
"That's not the principle that's at issue here," Kagan said.
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Kagan → say → issue
"The principle at issue here is: Do you have to treat them better?"
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you → have → them
Chief Justice John Roberts asked tough questions of both sides and his vote could prove determinative.
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vote → ask → sides
At one point, he expressed skepticism that recent rulings favoring the rights of religious schools over similar claims should also prevail in the current petition.
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rulings → express → petition
"The law in those cases, in each of them, expressly discriminated against religious schools on its face," Roberts told Reaves.
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Roberts → discriminate → Reaves
"That's not the case here," suggesting Colorado's law may be applied fairly across the board.
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law → suggest → board
The current dispute was brought by plaintiffs including St. Mary Catholic School.
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dispute → bring → School
Erika Nagle, whose children attend the Littleton facility, told Fox News Digital that two of her children were denied access to the state's preschool funding program, leaving her family to cover additional education expenses.
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two → attend → expenses
"We are being excluded from this benefit because we are Catholic," Nagle said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
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Nagle → exclude → Digital
"And so in a state that preaches inclusion, they are actively going out of their way to exclude a huge chunk of people because of our religious beliefs.
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they → preach → beliefs
"We have had two preschools in the archdiocese that have been closed down," she added.
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she → have → archdiocese
"The state is dangling a carrot over here, incentivizing people to leave their faith, to abandon the Catholic education that they want."
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they → dangle → that
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty represented the plaintiffs in court, arguing the state's policies are having severe consequences, with enrollment at archdiocesan preschools falling 20% and two schools shuttered.
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schools → represent → falling
The state counters that religious entities like Catholic Charities, at least three dozen Christian schools, one Muslim and three Jewish schools continue to participate in the preschool funding program.
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entities → counter → program
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
