The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether Colorado must carve out a religious exemption for Catholic preschools from the state's nondiscrimination policy, marking another high-stakes test of religious liberty in an increasingly favorable legal landscape for faith-based claims.
The Archdiocese of Denver operates 34 preschools and contends that Colorado's requirement banning admission discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity directly conflicts with Catholic teaching. The archdiocese, joined by two parishes in Littleton and Lakewood plus two parishioner plaintiffs, Daniel and Lisa Sheley, argues that participation in Colorado's state-funded preschool program forces them to violate their religious convictions.
Colorado's preschool initiative, funded through a 2020 referendum, distributes public money to parents who can direct their children to any participating program of their choice. The archdiocese's exclusion stems from its refusal to comply with the nondiscrimination requirement, which the state has not carved out for any religious institution.
The Trump administration filed a supporting brief backing the archdiocese's position, cementing a key alliance in the case.
At the core of the dispute is how broadly courts should read a 1990 Supreme Court precedent that generally denies religious exemptions from laws that apply uniformly to everyone. The archdiocese's legal team argues the Colorado law already contains multiple exceptions, allowing preschools to prioritize children with disabilities or from low-income households. Because the statute is not truly universal in its application, they contend, the precedent demands a religious exemption here as well.
Colorado's counterargument is straightforward: the nondiscrimination provision itself contains zero exemptions, and that specific rule is what matters under longstanding precedent. The state maintains that religious entities seeking public funds cannot pick and choose which civil rights protections to follow.
A federal district court and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the archdiocese's claims before the case landed at the Supreme Court's docket.
The court's 6-3 conservative majority has demonstrated consistent willingness to expand religious rights in recent years, particularly around education and government benefits. A string of recent decisions loosened restrictions on faith-based institutions accessing public programs and public money, setting expectations that the court may view the archdiocese sympathetically.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "This case could reshape what it actually means to accept public funding, especially in education where religious exemptions keep widening the door."
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