Supreme Court Leans Toward Catholic Preschools in Colorado Funding Case

The Supreme Court sounded ready on Tuesday to side with Catholic preschools in Colorado in a case over public money and nondiscrimination rules.

The justices heard about two hours of arguments in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy. The Archdiocese of Denver and other Catholic groups want an exemption from the nondiscrimination rule in Colorado's universal preschool program. President Donald Trump's administration backed the Catholic groups at the court, Reuters reported.

Colorado started the program in 2023. It pays for 15 hours a week of preschool for 4-year-olds, and families can choose public, private, secular or religious schools. Schools that take part must give every child an equal chance to enroll, regardless of the sexual orientation or gender identity of the child or the child's parents.

What the Catholic schools argue

The archdiocese oversees 34 Catholic preschools, according to court papers. Its policy is to admit students only from families who support Catholic beliefs, including the church's teachings on same-sex relationships and gender identity, Reuters reported.

Nicholas Reaves, the lawyer for the Catholic groups, told the justices the preschools "exist to pass on the faith to the next generation." He said the schools ask every family that enrolls to support the church's teachings.

The archdiocese, two parishes and the parents of a preschooler sued Colorado in 2023 after the state rejected a request for a religious exemption. Lower courts ruled for Colorado and upheld the program's protections, Reuters and USA Today reported.

Conservative justices press Colorado

Justice Amy Coney Barrett pressed Helen Norton, the lawyer for Colorado, on whether there is any real difference between barring religious schools outright and setting a condition the state knows those schools cannot accept. "Explain what the difference is," Barrett asked.

Chief Justice John Roberts pointed to Carson v. Makin, the court's 2022 ruling that Maine could not exclude religious schools from a state tuition aid program. Roberts said the effect of the Maine law looked much the same as the effect of the Colorado rule, and asked how this case is different.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked why Colorado did not take what he called the "win-win" and let Catholic schools take part alongside the many other preschools in the program. "Why has this been provoked when there's an ability for everyone to go to a good school that is a fit for them and to respect religious rights?" he asked, according to USA Today.

Liberal justices push back

The court's three liberal justices said the Catholic groups are asking for more than equal treatment. Justice Elena Kagan told Reaves that Carson stands for the principle that "you can't treat religious institutions differently." She added: "That's not the principle that's at issue here. The principle at issue here is: Do you have to treat them better?"

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson told the archdiocese's lawyer: "It seems to me that you're asking for a special rule for religious schools." Norton told the court that Colorado worked to include religious schools and that there is "zero evidence" the state aimed its rule at Catholic schools. "The only thing Colorado asks is that they comply with the same conditions that every publicly funded preschool must meet, religious and secular alike," she said.

Colorado relied in part on Employment Division v. Smith, the court's 1990 ruling that laws which apply to everyone can stand even when they limit religious practice. A decision in this case is expected by the end of June.