The U.S. Supreme Court will hear St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, a case about whether a Colorado faith-based preschool can refuse to sign a nondiscrimination pledge tied to a state program.
St. Mary Catholic Parish operates a preschool and refused to sign a statement saying it would accept all applicants regardless of sexual orientation. When the state denied the school's application to the program, the parish claimed the requirement violated its First Amendment right to free exercise of religion. The lower courts sided with Colorado and the agency that denied the application.
The Supreme Court agreed to review the case, which suggests potential disagreement with the circuit court's decision.
Clint Bolick, an Associate Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court and a constitutional scholar, discussed the case with Paul Peterson, director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University. The circuit court majority upheld the nondiscrimination requirement as part of the state's police power and as serving a compelling government interest tied to public funds. The dissenting judge cited recent Supreme Court opinions holding that religious institutions cannot be forced to abandon core religious beliefs as a condition of receiving government aid.
Bolick noted that the current Supreme Court has shifted significantly since the 2002 Zellman case, which allowed school choice programs to include religious schools. He said the Court has now ruled that choice programs cannot exclude religious schools and "really has to take them as they are."