Ketanji Brown Jackson accuses Catholic preschools of wanting ‘special rule’ to bar LGBT families in universal preschool case

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson sharply questioned a coalition of Catholic schools on Tuesday that are seeking to be allowed into Colorado’s universal preschool program without having to admit families who do not abide by Catholic teachings, accusing them of asking for a “special rule” to discriminate.The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, a case involving the state’s decision to bar Catholic preschools from its universal preschool programs because they refuse to comply with standards requiring schools to admit any child. The coalition of Catholic schools argued that asking them to admit families who do not follow Catholic teachings would sacrifice their beliefs, which they say violates their First Amendment rights. Jackson, along with the two other liberal justices on the high court, grilled Nicholas Reaves, a lawyer for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty representing the Catholic preschools, over whether their stance would allow for discrimination.“I’m a little concerned that these parish preschools would like to do something that the state has determined is a violation of its own principles with respect to discriminating against or excluding a certain group of people. So, why is it that the state can uniformly condition the receipt of these funds on something like, you can’t discriminate?” Jackson said. “It seems to me you’re asking for a special rule for religious schools, that when Colorado says anyone who receives these funds has to be open to everyone and can’t discriminate, what you’re asking for in the context of this free exercise claim is a special rule for religious schools to be able to not follow that condition,” she continued.Reaves pushed back on that description of the situation, claiming that religious schools are not asking to discriminate but rather to allow their admissions policy to limit enrollment in a way that does not require them to sacrifice their sincerely held beliefs. He later pointed to secular preschools that are allowed to place limits in their admissions policies, bringing up a hypothetical situation about schools that only “admit vegetarians who speak two languages,” but questioned why the Catholic schools are not able to limit their own admissions.Justice Sonia Sotomayor pressed Reaves on how it appeared the Catholic schools were asking the Supreme Court to let them discriminate against LGBT families, because same-sex marriage goes against Catholic teachings.“Colorado permits them to apply if they will accept all children. They’re saying, we don’t want to accept the children of a certain class of people, homosexual people,” Sotomayor said, questioning how the Catholic schools are not asking for special treatment.While the three liberal justices appeared skeptical toward the Catholic preschools’ claims of First Amendment violations by Colorado, a majority on the high court appeared likely to side with the Catholic preschools over the Centennial State.SUPREME COURT APPEARS POISED TO HAND COLORADO MAJOR LOSS IN RELIGIOUS PRESCHOOL CASEThe Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in the case by the end of June 2027, when the current term is set to conclude.Next month, the court will hear oral arguments in multiple high profile cases, ranging from “assault weapons” bans to President Donald Trump’s “third country” deportation policy. Rulings in those cases are also expected by the end of June 2027.