Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Difference between revisions
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Justice [[Amy Coney Barrett]] filed a concurring opinion, joined in full by Justice [[Brett Kavanaugh]] and joined in all but the first paragraph by Justice [[Stephen Breyer]].<ref name=ope/> | Justice [[Amy Coney Barrett]] filed a concurring opinion, joined in full by Justice [[Brett Kavanaugh]] and joined in all but the first paragraph by Justice [[Stephen Breyer]].<ref name=ope/> | ||
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Justice [[Samuel Alito]] filed a concurring opinion, joined by Justices [[Clarence Thomas (Supreme Court)|Clarence Thomas]] and [[Neil Gorsuch]].<ref name=ope/> | Justice [[Samuel Alito]] filed a concurring opinion, joined by Justices [[Clarence Thomas (Supreme Court)|Clarence Thomas]] and [[Neil Gorsuch]].<ref name=ope/> | ||
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Justice [[Neil Gorsuch]] filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, joined by [[Clarence Thomas (Supreme Court)|Clarence Thomas]] and [[Samuel Alito]].<ref name=ope/> | Justice [[Neil Gorsuch]] filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, joined by [[Clarence Thomas (Supreme Court)|Clarence Thomas]] and [[Samuel Alito]].<ref name=ope/> | ||
Latest revision as of 19:05, 3 April 2023

| Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |
| Term: 2020 | |
| Important Dates | |
| Argument: November 4, 2020 Decided: June 17, 2021 | |
| Outcome | |
| Reversed and remanded | |
| Vote | |
| 9-0 | |
| Majority | |
| Chief Justice John G. Roberts • Stephen Breyer • Sonia Sotomayor • Elena Kagan • Brett Kavanaugh • Amy Coney Barrett | |
| Concurring | |
| Amy Coney Barrett • Samuel Alito (in judgment) • Neil Gorsuch (in judgment) • Clarence Thomas (in judgment) | |
Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is a case argued before the Supreme Court of the United States on November 4, 2020, during the court's October 2020-2021 term.
In a unanimous ruling, the court reversed the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit and remanded the case for further proceedings, holding that the City of Philadelphia violated Catholic Social Service's (CSS) right to free exercise under the First Amendment by excluding CSS from the foster care program due to CSS's refusal to certify same-sex couples. Chief Justice John G. Roberts delivered the majority opinion of the court. Justice Amy Coney Barrett filed a concurring opinion. Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch filed opinions concurring in the judgment only, of which Justice Clarence Thomas joined.[1]
"(1) Whether free exercise plaintiffs can only succeed by proving a particular type of discrimination claim–namely that the government would allow the same conduct by someone who held different religious views–as two circuits have held, or whether courts must consider other evidence that a law is not neutral and generally applicable, as six circuits have held?
"(2) Whether Employment Division v. Smith should be revisited?
"(3) Whether a government violates 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?"[2]
The case came on a writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit.[3] You can review the lower court's opinion here.[4]
Timeline
The following timeline details key events in this case:
- June 17, 2021: The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision of the 3rd Circuit and remanded the case for further proceedings.
- November 4, 2020: Oral argument was heard.
- February 24, 2020: The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
- July 22, 2019: Sharonell Fulton filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court.
- April 22, 2019: The 3rd Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania's ruling.
Background
Procedural background
As of the start of the litigation, the city of Philadelphia's Department of Human Services ("Human Services") had one-year contracts with 30 agencies in its foster care system. One of the agencies was Catholic Social Services (“CSS”), a religious nonprofit organization affiliated with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. On March 9, 2018, a reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer contacted Human Services stating that CSS and another agency with active contracts in the city's foster care system would not work with same-sex couples seeking to become foster parents. Human Services considered the claim to be a potential violation of Philadelphia's anti-discrimination laws and began investigating the allegation. The contract between the city and CSS included language prohibiting agencies from discriminating due to race, color, religion, or nation of origin, and it included the city's Fair Practices Ordinance, which in part prohibits sexual orientation discrimination in public accommodations, or in public or private facilities used by the public.[5] The two agencies in question confirmed to Human Services that they would not work with same-sex couples due to their religious views on marriage. Human Services stopped referring foster children to the agencies.[4]
Later in 2018, CSS filed suit in district court, claiming that Philadelphia violated the agency's First Amendment rights and its rights under Pennsylvania's Religious Freedom Protection Act.[6] Three individuals who had worked with CSS as foster parents—Sharonell Fulton, Cecilia Paul, and Toni Lynn Simms-Busch—were also listed as plaintiffs.[4][7] CSS argued that it cannot certify a same-sex married couple as foster parents in keeping with its religious views and as an affiliate of the Catholic Church. State regulations required CSS, acting in its capacity as a foster care provider, to consider an applicant's existing family relationships during the certification process. CSS applied this requirement by only certifying foster parents who were either married or single. CSS would not certify cohabitating unmarried couples and considered all same-sex couples to be unmarried. CSS sought preliminary injunctive relief from the district court to the effect that the city of Philadelphia be required to renew its contractual relationship with CSS while allowing CSS to refuse same-sex couples who applied to be foster parents.[8] The district court denied the request.[4]
CSS appealed the decision to the 3rd Circuit, seeking emergency injunctive relief pending appeal. The 3rd Circuit denied the motion. The plaintiffs, then appellants, filed an emergency application to the Supreme Court of the United States for an injunction pending appeal or an immediate grant of certiorari. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito referred the application to the full court. The Supreme Court denied the application.[4]
On appeal, the 3rd Circuit concluded that CSS was not entitled to a preliminary injunction and that Philadelphia's non-discrimination policy was "a neutral, generally applicable law, and the religious views of CSS do not entitle it to an exception from that policy. ... It has failed to make a persuasive showing that the City targeted it for its religious beliefs, or is motivated by ill will against its religion, rather than sincere opposition to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation."[4] The 3rd Circuit affirmed the Eastern District of Pennsylvania's ruling.[4]
Case law background
Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith
One of the questions presented to the court in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was whether the case Employment Division v. Smith ought to be revisited by the Supreme Court.[9] The following details about the latter case are included to provide background information.[9][10]
Questions presented
The petitioner presented the following questions to the court:[2]
Questions presented:
|
Oral argument
Audio
Audio of oral argument:[12]
Transcript
Outcome
In a unanimous ruling, the court reversed the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit and remanded the case for further proceedings, holding that the City of Philadelphia violated Catholic Social Service's (CSS) right to free exercise under the First Amendment by excluding CSS from the foster care program due to CSS's refusal to certify same-sex couples. Chief Justice John G. Roberts delivered the majority opinion of the court. Justice Amy Coney Barrett filed a concurring opinion. Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch filed opinions concurring in the judgment only, of which Justice Clarence Thomas joined.[1]
Opinion
In the court's majority opinion, Chief Justice John G. Roberts wrote:[1]
| “ | Catholic Social Services is a foster care agency in Philadelphia. The City stopped referring children to CSS upon discovering that the agency would not certify same-sex couples to be foster parents due to its religious beliefs about marriage. The City will renew its foster care contract with CSS only if the agency agrees to certify same-sex couples. The question presented is whether the actions of Philadelphia violate the First Amendment. ... |
” |
| —Chief Justice John G. Roberts | ||
Concurring opinion
Justice Amy Coney Barrett filed a concurring opinion, joined in full by Justice Brett Kavanaugh and joined in all but the first paragraph by Justice Stephen Breyer.[1]
In her concurring opinion, Barrett wrote:
| “ | In Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith, 494 U. S. 872 (1990), this Court held that a neutral and generally applicable law typically does not violate the Free Exercise Clause—no matter how severely that law burdens religious exercise. Petitioners, their amici, scholars, and Justices of this Court have made serious arguments that Smith ought to be overruled. While history looms large in this debate, I find the historical record more silent than supportive on the question whether the founding generation understood the First Amendment to require religious exemptions from generally applicable laws in at least some circumstances. In my view, the textual and structural arguments against Smith are more compelling. As a matter of text and structure, it is difficult to see why the Free Exercise Clause—lone among the First Amendment freedoms—offers nothing more than protection from discrimination.
|
” |
| —Justice Amy Coney Barrett | ||
Concurring opinion
Justice Samuel Alito filed a concurring opinion, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch.[1]
In his concurring opinion, Alito wrote:
| “ | This case presents an important constitutional question that urgently calls out for review: whether this Court’s governing interpretation of a bedrock constitutional right, the right to the free exercise of religion, is fundamentally wrong and should be corrected.
|
” |
| —Justice Samuel Alito | ||
Concurring opinion
Justice Neil Gorsuch filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, joined by Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.[1]
In his concurring opinion, Gorsuch wrote:
| “ | The Court granted certiorari to decide whether to overrule Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith, 494 U. S. 872 (1990). As JUSTICE ALITO’s opinion
demonstrates, Smith failed to respect this Court’s precedents, was mistaken as a matter of the Constitution’s original public meaning, and has proven unworkable in practice. A majority of our colleagues, however, seek to sidestep the question. They agree that the City of Philadelphia’s treatment of Catholic Social Services (CSS) violates the Free Exercise Clause. But, they say, there’s no “need” or “reason” to address the error of Smith today. Ante, at 5 (majority opinion); ante, at 2 (BARRETT, J., concurring). |
” |
| —Justice Neil Gorsuch | ||
Text of the opinion
Read the full opinion here.
October term 2020-2021
The Supreme Court began hearing cases for the term on October 5, 2020. The court's yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions in mid-June.[13]
The court issued 67 opinions during its 2020-2021 term. Two cases were decided in one consolidated opinion. Ten cases were decided without argument. Click here for more information on the court's opinions.
The court agreed to hear 62 cases during its 2020-2021 term. Of those, 12 were originally scheduled for the 2019-2020 term but were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Five cases were removed from the argument calendar.
See also
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- U.S. Supreme Court docket file - Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (petitions, motions, briefs, opinions, and attorneys)
- SCOTUSblog case file for Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 U.S. Supreme Court, Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, decided June 17, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Supreme Court of the United States, "19-123 Fulton v. Philadelphia, PA," accessed February 28, 2020
- ↑ SCOTUSblog, "Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania," accessed February 28, 2020
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, decided April 22, 2019
- ↑ City of Philadelphia, "The Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance: Prohibitions Against Unlawful Discrimination, Chapter 9-1100 of the Philadelphia Code," accessed February 28, 2020
- ↑ Pennsylvania General Assembly, "Religious Freedom Protection Act," accessed February 28, 2020
- ↑ Cecilia Paul died while this action was pending.
- ↑ Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "Preliminary injunction," accessed February 28, 2020
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Oyez.org, Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, decided April 17, 1990
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Justia, Employment Div. v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990), decided April 17, 1990
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Oral Argument - Audio," accessed November 9, 2020
- ↑ SupremeCourt.gov, "A Brief Overview of the Supreme Court," accessed April 20, 2015