Supreme Court Hears Catholic Schools' Challenge to Colorado Preschool Anti-Discrimination Rule

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, a case over whether Colorado may keep Catholic preschools that exclude children of same-sex couples out of its state-funded universal preschool program. Colorado's program lets families choose a school for their young child, and private religious schools may take part. State law bars any funded school from discriminating based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The Archdiocese of Denver and the Catholic plaintiffs, joined by the Trump administration, urged the justices to overturn a ruling that allowed the program to exclude Catholic schools that do not meet the equal-opportunity requirements. In a two-hour argument, justices weighed religious liberty against the state's interest in equal opportunity for gay and lesbian parents. Justice Sonia Sotomayor told the plaintiffs' lawyer that families, not the schools, should choose, and that the schools wanted public money while keeping a right to reject children. Justice Brett Kavanaugh addressed the state's motives. Chief Justice John Roberts briefly appeared open to upholding Colorado's policy. Several recent religious-rights appeals have come from Colorado.

Right-leaning outlets frame the hearing around religious rights. Fox News leads with the conservative majority's clear support for the schools, calls Colorado's rule an unconstitutional intrusion, quotes Sotomayor and Kavanaugh, and links an opinion piece on anti-Catholic laws. The Daily Signal says the court could deal Colorado another blow and highlights an argument that universal preschool funding can go to Catholic schools without a zero-sum tradeoff. Vox, on the left, leads with at least five justices seeming hostile to Colorado's law. Its headline says the court would make taxpayers fund anti-LGBTQ schools, and it notes that religious conservatives keep winning such cases and that the doctrine is incoherent. Both sides agree the conservative justices lean toward the schools and describe the program the same way. They differ in whether they cast the dispute as a religious-liberty claim or as discrimination against LGBTQ families paid for with public money. The AP's account largely matches the basic facts, with attention on the Trump administration's role.