The Supreme Court of the United States today unanimously sided with 16 Republican AGs, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, who filed amicus curiae briefs in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, one of the high court’s most important religious liberty cases heard this term. The Republican attorneys general argued the City of Philadelphia cannot exclude Catholic Social Services from its foster care system because their religious beliefs prevent them from endorsing same-sex households as foster parents. All nine Justices —including the Court’s three liberal members— agreed the City of Philadelphia’s actions violates Catholic Social Services’ right to freely exercise their religious beliefs.
“Today’s unanimous Supreme Court decision affirms what we’ve always known; that foster care and adoption programs should be focused on the best interest of children, and those interests are not served when the government excludes faith-based organizations from participating based solely on their religious beliefs,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. “Cooperation between states and faith-based groups is fundamental to child welfare, just as religious liberty is to our Constitution.”