During the term it completed in July, the Supreme Court decided several important cases involving religious liberty and one that expanded legal protection for gay Americans. In the term that begins next month, the justices will hear a case that purportedly pits those two interests against each other. But the real question in the case is simpler: whether a religious organization that receives government money can violate civil-rights laws. The answer is no. Catholic Social Services of Philadelphia has long participated in the city’s efforts to place children in foster homes, receiving a payment from the city for each child who is placed. But the city stopped referrals to the agency because it wouldn’t work with same-sex couples as foster parents — a policy the city said violated its Fair Practices Ordinance prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations. The case raises some of the same issues as a decision two years ago in which the court ruled in favor of a Christian baker who didn’t want to provide a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. But while the court ruled narrowly in the wedding-cake case — finding for the baker on the grounds that state civil rights commissioners made comments […]
