Fulton v. Philadelphia

Fulton v Philadelphia (Docket 19-123) is a pending case before the United States Supreme Court. Licensed Foster care agency filed suit against the city of Philadelphia closed intake and new referrals and did not offer a new contract to the agency for the agency failure to complete with the all-comers or non-discrimination policy in the contract. the agency refused on religious grounds to provided service to married same-sex couples. The agency brought the litigation under the Free Exercise Clause and Establishment Clauses of First Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Pennsylvania State Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, Pub. L. No. 103-141, 107 Stat. 1488 (November 16, 1993), codified at 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb through 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb-4 (also known as RFRA).

Fulton v Philadelphia
Full case nameFulton v City of Philadelphia
Docket no.19-123
Case history
Prior
  • Sharonell Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, 18-cv-02075) (Apr. 22, 2019);
Cert. granted, Fulton v Philadelphia, 140 S.Ct. 1104 (2020)
Questions presented
  • To succeed on their free exercise claim, must plaintiffs prove that the government would allow the same conduct by someone who held different religious views, or only provide sufficient evidence that a law is not neutral and generally applicable?
  • Does the government violate the First Amendment by conditioning a religious agency’s ability to participate in the foster care system on taking actions and making statements that directly contradict the agency’s religious beliefs?
  • Should the Court revisit its decision in Employment Division v. Smith?

Background

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia runs the Catholic Social Services which has operated a foster care agency in Philadelphia for over a 100 years. The city of Philadelphia learned that Catholic Social Services refused to license married same-sex couples to become foster parents. The Catholic Social Service and four of its licensed families sued the City of Philadelphia when they refuse to renew the agency's contract.

The Contract between the City and CSS read "Non-Discrimination; Fair Practices. This Contract is entered into under the terms of the Charter, the Fair Practices Ordinance (Chapter 9-1100 of the Code) .... Provider shall not discriminate or permit discrimination against any individual because of race, color, religion or national origin. Nor shall Provider discriminate or permit discrimination against individuals in ... public accommodation7 practices whether by direct or indirect practice of exclusion, distinction, restriction, segregation, limitation, refusal, denial, differentiation or preference in the treatment of a person on the basis of ... sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, familiar [sic] status ... or engage in any other act or practice made unlawful under the Charter...." Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, 320 F. Supp. 3d 661, 671 (E.D. Pa. 2018), aff'd, 922 F.3d 140 (3d Cir. 2019), cert. granted sub nom. Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 140 S. Ct. 1104, 206 L. Ed. 2d 177 (2020)

In March of 2018 the Commissioner found that CSS and Bethany Christin Services were refusing services to same-sex couples. The commissioner called CSS and tried to find out why or what services they would not perform. CSS stated they would not certify same-sex couples as prospective foster parents even if they were otherwise eligible under state law. They would also not provided same-sex couples with a home study as part of the application process.

On March 13, 2018 the Philadelphia Inquirer ran an article "Two Foster Agencies In Philly Won't Place Kids with LGBTQ People.[1] The article talks about a same-sex couple that went to an information session at Bethany Christian Service and they were told they would wasting time because there was a policy for refusing to serve same-sex couples.

March 15, 2018 Commissioner "decided that it was in the best interest [of children] to close intake, so that [Figueroa] could look more deeply into” CSS's and Bethany Christian Services's policies."


Supreme Court
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gollark: Neither are likely.

References
  1. Terruso, Julia (March 13, 2018). "Two Foster Agencies in Philly Won't Place Kids with LGVTQ People". Philly.com. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
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