Supreme Court Hears Catholic Preschool Case From Colorado

Parents in Denver who want tax-funded preschool tuition for their children at a Catholic school are watching Washington this week, where the fight over that money landed at the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, in Washington, D.C., the justices heard arguments over whether Colorado violated the First Amendment by excluding Catholic preschools from a universal, taxpayer-funded preschool program unless those schools agree to admit children regardless of the sexual orientation or gender identity of the child or the child's parents, according to NBC News. The plaintiffs are the Archdiocese of Denver and other Catholic entities that say the state rule conflicts with Catholic doctrine, which does not recognize same-sex relationships or transgender status, NBC News reported.

What is Colorado's preschool program?

Voters approved the program in a 2020 statewide referendum, NBC News reported. It gives taxpayer money directly to parents so they can send their children to the preschool of their choice. State law says a preschool cannot take part in the program if it turns away children based on the sexual orientation or gender identity of the child or the child's parents, according to the report.

That condition is what the Catholic plaintiffs are challenging. They argue the state is forcing them to choose between taking public money and following their faith.

Why do Catholic schools say the rule violates their rights?

Lawyers for the Archdiocese of Denver, who work with the religious liberty group Becket, told the court the case is "uncomplicated" because Colorado "knowingly excluded Catholic preschools solely on account of their religious exercise," according to court papers cited by NBC News.

The argument rests on the idea that once a state opens a public benefit — in this case, preschool tuition funding — to private providers, it cannot then disqualify religious providers just for following their own teachings. The Catholic plaintiffs have the backing of the Trump administration in the case, NBC News reported.

What does Colorado say in response?

The state's lawyers, led by Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat, told the court religious schools already take part in the program, NBC News reported. The condition, Weiser's filing said, is that any participating school — religious or not — has to follow the same antidiscrimination rule that applies to every provider in the program.

In other words, the state says it is not singling out Catholic schools. It says it is applying one rule to everyone who wants the public money, and any preschool that will not admit children based on sexual orientation or gender identity does not qualify, regardless of its religious affiliation.

How does this fit with other Supreme Court religious rights cases?

This is not the first time Colorado has been the backdrop for a fight between religious rights and LGBTQ protections to reach the nation's highest court. NBC News reported that most of the cases the Supreme Court has heard on this subject over the past decade have come out of Colorado, and the court's 6-3 conservative majority has regularly sided with Christian plaintiffs in those disputes.

That track record is part of why both sides are watching this case closely. A ruling for the Archdiocese of Denver could reshape how states structure public benefit programs that touch religious institutions nationwide, not just in Colorado.

By the numbers

• 2020: the year Colorado voters approved the universal preschool program by referendum, per NBC News.
• 6-3: the current conservative majority on the Supreme Court, which NBC News reports has regularly favored religious rights claims from Christian plaintiffs in recent cases.

What happens next?

The justices heard oral argument Tuesday, but a written ruling typically takes weeks or months. Until the court rules, Colorado's current policy stands: preschools that want public tuition funds must agree not to turn away children based on sexual orientation or gender identity, whether the family or the child is affected.

For families with children already enrolled at Catholic preschools in the Denver area, Monday morning brings no immediate change. Tuition funding rules remain in place while the court deliberates. A decision could eventually determine whether those schools can take state money while declining to admit children from same-sex families, or whether Colorado can keep its current nondiscrimination condition in place for every preschool that wants a share of the public program.

The case adds to a running list of Supreme Court disputes testing where religious exercise ends and public nondiscrimination rules begin — a line the court has been drawing case by case, mostly out of Colorado, for the better part of ten years, according to NBC News.