A federal appeals court ruled Monday that the city of Philadelphia can sever its contract with a Catholic foster care agency that refuses to place children with same-sex couples.
In its
opinion, a three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Philadelphia held that Catholic Social Services’ religious beliefs do not entitle it to an exception from the city’s nondiscrimination policy. The
Philadelphia Inquirer,
NPR and
Courthouse News Service have coverage.
“The city stands on firm ground in requiring its contractors to abide by its nondiscrimination policies when administering public services,” Judge Thomas Ambro wrote in the opinion.
“While CSS may assert that the city’s actions were not driven by a sincere commitment to equality but rather by anti-religious and anti-Catholic bias … the current record does not show religious persecution or bias,” Ambro said. “Instead it shows so far the city’s good faith in its effort to enforce its laws against discrimination.”
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Important to note how the judges are distinguishing this from 'the' cake case. There, the cakeshop won because the local government commission acted in a biased way - the court did not really rule on whether religious objections generally trump the government's legitimate interest in opposing discrimination.
