Home / CCA Statement: Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, et al

In August 2020, CCA and several other children’s legal rights organizations around the country joined an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court in the case of Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, et al.  The case, as many of you know, revolved around the claim by Catholic Social Services (CSS) of Philadelphia that the City of Philadelphia violated its first amendment right to freedom of religion by requiring CSS to adhere to an anti-discrimination provision in the foster care contract the City used to provide foster care services to children in the City’s child welfare system.  CSS claimed that requiring it to place children with same-sex couples violated its religious tenets under the first amendment – and refused to adhere to the provision, and sued the city (even though no same-sex couple had ever applied or sought licenses as foster parents with CSS). 

The case made its way to the US Supreme Court, which heard the case last fall, after the third circuit court of appeals unanimously ruled that the city had a right to enforce this anti-discrimination provision in its foster care contracts. 

Last week, the US Supreme Court reversed the third circuit in a narrow, but extremely troubling 9-0 decision.  The politics of the Supreme Court decision appear to be complicated, but the overriding principle allowing discriminatory conduct against LGBTQ individuals is not.  CCA put out a statement on Friday, criticizing the decision and advocating for the continued support of equal rights for all LGBTQ individuals – in all areas of our work.  

Center for Children’s Advocacy Statement on Fulton V. City of Philadelphia
June 18, 2021

The United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia yesterday. While the Court’s unanimous opinion was very limited in scope, the bottom line is that a religious-based social service agency could likely discriminate against same-sex couples who applied to be foster parents in Philadelphia. The crux of the decision rested upon the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance, and the statute’s discretionary exceptions provision, which permits the city to contractually exempt entities from the ordinance’s general prohibition against discrimination of any kind. However, the bottom line is that a taxpayer-funded agency has now been given license to discriminate based on an individuals’ LGBTQ status.

CCA is grateful that the Court did not overturn the 1990 case of Employment Division v. Smith, which held that general laws that do not single out religion could not be challenged because those laws violated the First Amendment. CCA was one of 30 organizations that filed an amicus brief in the Fulton case last year advocating for the continued protection of LGBTQ individuals and honoring the long-standing protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

CCA will continue to vigorously advocate for LGBTQ individuals in the foster care system, and throughout all of its work in healthcare, education and juvenile justice, and we urge Congress and the Biden administration to strengthen protections for LGBTQ individuals by passing the Equality Act and issuing regulations that enhance existing anti-discrimination measures.