WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously sided with a Catholic foster care agency that says its religious views prevent it from working with same-sex couples as foster parents. The justices said the city of Philadelphia wrongly limited its relationship with the group as a result of the agency’s policy.
Philadelphia violated the Constitution in limiting its work with the agency, Catholic Social Services, the court said.
“The 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 cannot survive strict scrutiny, and violates the First Amendment,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.
Roberts said that the group “seeks 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.”
Catholic Social Services is affiliated with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Read the rest here.
FTR I fully expected the court to back the Catholic Church. I did not expect the decision to be unanimous. It may be worth noting that there have been quite a few unanimous, or nearly so, decisions coming out of the court of late. I suspect the justices may be sending a subtle message to those talkig about court packing.
One of the few things I admire about Roberts is his effort to avoid a split court whenever it is important. As upset as we all are about his refusing to overturn Obamacare, he is right that an act of Congress should never be overturned by a closely split Supreme Court. If the the Supreme Court is to correct Congress, it should be without question, not tenuous. Unanimous decisions are hard to argue with.
ReplyDeleteIf you check, Earl Warren worked very long & hard to get a unanimous decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education.