WASHINGTON, DC – Following oral argument at the Supreme Court this morning in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, a case in which the Supreme Court is considering whether the Free Exercise Clause requires Colorado to allow religious preschool providers to join its state-funded universal preschool program even though they refuse to comply with the state’s neutral and generally applicable rule barring discrimination against children and families based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Constitutional Accountability Center Appellate Counsel Joshua Blecher-Cohen issued the following reaction:

Multiple questions from Supreme Court Justices this morning recognized Colorado’s interest in guaranteeing that students and families can access its universal preschool program without being turned away based on sexual orientation or gender identity. As Colorado explained at oral argument, the way it has structured that program ensures the uniform application of its antidiscrimination requirements across all preschool providers that choose to participate. The Court’s precedent makes clear that the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause permits such generally applicable and neutral antidiscrimination laws.

CAC Director of the Human Rights, Civil Rights, and Citizenship Program David H. Gans added this reaction:

St. Mary Catholic Parish, supported by the Trump administration, argued at the Supreme Court this morning that, under the original meaning of the Free Exercise Clause, it is entitled to a religious exemption from Colorado’s antidiscrimination rule applicable to preschool providers seeking to receive taxpayer funds. As our amicus brief on behalf of First Amendment scholars demonstrates, nothing in the text and history of the First Amendment supports the sweeping right to disregard generally applicable neutral antidiscrimination laws advanced in today’s argument. Indeed, both Founding-era state constitutions that inspired the First Amendment and debates in the First Congress recognized that a person’s religious beliefs could not be used to secure an exemption from laws protecting others’ civil rights. If the Court follows constitutional text and history where it leads, it should reject St. Mary’s argument that it has a First Amendment right to discriminate.

CAC Vice President Praveen Fernandes also added:

At oral argument, the attorney for St. Mary Catholic Parish said nothing that rebuts the simple fact that St. Mary Catholic Parish wants to be able to accept state funds without complying with state rules, including neutral and generally applicable antidiscrimination rules. The First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause simply does not require that result, as our brief on behalf of First Amendment scholars makes clear. If the Court were to rule for St. Mary Catholic Parish, it would be granting it a license to discriminate with state funds, sacrificing in the bargain the very children and families that the Colorado universal preschool program was established to help.