Tipsheet

Supreme Court Rules Unanimously in Favor of Catholic Social Services and Religious Freedom

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  June 17, 2021 4:00 PM

On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Catholic Social Services in Sharonell Fulton et. al. v. City of Philadelphia. CSS, represented by Becket Law, brought suit against Philadelphia because the city barred them from placing children in foster homes due to their unwillingness to place them in homes with same-sex couples. 

The Court held that "Philadelphia’s refusal to contract with Catholic Social Services for the provision of foster care services unless CSS agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents violates the free exercise clause of the First Amendment."

A press release from Becket highlighted CSS work in serving the city for over 200 years. It noted:

The Supreme Court just ruled in favor of “exemplary” foster mothers Sharonell Fulton and Toni Simms-Busch, allowing these foster care heroes to continue serving children in need in partnership with the Catholic foster ministry that has been serving Philadelphia for over 200 years. Catholic Social Services supports foster mothers like Sharonell and Toni and serves children without regard to race, religion, or sexual orientation. Thanks to today’s decision, it can continue that vital work. In the Court’s unanimous decision, Chief Justice Roberts made clear that the city cannot exclude foster parents like Sharonell and Toni or Catholic Social Services simply because city officials disagree with the religious agency’s sincere Catholic beliefs about marriage. The Justices also recognized that protecting faith-affirming agencies will ensure foster children in need have every opportunity available to find a loving home. As the Court explained, “[t]he City apparently prefers to risk leaving children without foster parents than to allow CSS to follow its religiously dictated policy, which threatens no tangible harm.”

The Court’s opinion also confirmed “CSS has ‘long been a point of light in the City’s foster-care system.’ CSS seeks only an accommodation that will allow it to continue serving the children of Philadelphia in a manner consistent with its religious beliefs.” The decision is a strong message in favor of religious freedom: “so long as the government can achieve its interests in a manner that does not burden religion, it must do so.”

Today’s decision recognizes that diverse foster agencies will help diverse families thrive. Catholic Social Services welcomes women of color like Sharonell and Toni and is committed to serving those most in need. More than 70% of the children supported by this religious ministry’s foster care program are racial minorities.

Many of these points were reiterated and expanded upon during a Becket press call. 

Philadelphia's Archbishop Nelson Perez expanded upon the work the Catholic Church has done in the city. "We continue to pioneer programs," he shared, "aimed at breaking the cycles of violence and poverty that have plagued immigrants and minority families for decades." 

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Charitable programs, with the Church ramping up their efforts to assist those affected by COVID-19, include providing over 1 million meals in the region in the last year, providing legal assistance to migrants and refugees, providing diapers and formula for mothers in need, and forums discussion racial issues.

According to Perez, the Church has actually worked with the in multiple instances. 

A theme shared by the archbishop, echoed by counsel for the case Lori Windham is the hope that the decision "makes it abundantly clear that religious ministries cannot be forced to abandon their beliefs as the price for ministering to those in need." 

Windham issued a reminder that CSS "has long served foster children without regard to their race, their religion, their sex, their sexual orientation."

She also explained that "this ruling goes into the fact that Philadelphia had a process for making different kinds of individualized exceptions to the rules, and when that is the case, government can't refuse to protect religious freedom."

Windham said that in addition to the "strong layer of protection for religious social services agencies," this case "helps governments and religious agencies to know what the rules are and how to apply the law going forward."

Plaintiffs in the case included foster moms Sharonell Fulton and Toni Simms-Busch, whose stories were highlighted by Becket, putting faces, names, and real world application to what was at stake in the case. 

The Supreme Court has handed down unanimous decisions in favor of religious freedom before.