The Supreme Court announced Monday it will hear another First Amendment challenge to a Colorado policy, this time over the state’s exclusion of Catholic entities from its universal preschool program.
The high court will hear arguments in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy over whether the Centennial State unlawfully violated the Catholic preschools’ First Amendment rights by requiring them to accept all families, including those who do not share Catholic beliefs, to be part of the state’s UPK program.
The coalition of Catholic preschools and the Archdiocese of Denver claim the state’s decision to bar the schools from the universal preschool program, because it requires families who enroll in their schools to support Catholic teachings, amounts to unlawful targeting of their religious beliefs. The lawsuit notes that Colorado has permitted schools that only admit “children of color” and “gender-nonconforming children,” among other enrollment requirements, into its UPK program despite Colorado’s claim that schools in the program must give all families an “equal opportunity” to enroll.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is backing the coalition of Catholic preschools and celebrated the high court’s decision to take up the case. Nicholas Reaves, senior counsel at Becket, noted Colorado’s poor record at the high court on First Amendment issues and was confident they would prevail over the state in their lawsuit.
“Colorado promised free preschool for all, then slammed the door on families who chose a religious education for their children. After three losses in religious freedom cases at the Supreme Court, Colorado should know better,” Reaves said.
“The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that states cannot exclude families from government benefits because of their faith. We’re confident the Court will say the same thing here and put a stop to Colorado’s no-Catholics-need-apply rules,” he added.
If the Supreme Court sides with the coalition of Catholic schools, the St. Mary Catholic Parish case could mark the fourth high-profile First Amendment loss for Colorado at the Supreme Court in the past decade.
The Centennial State lost a major First Amendment fight last month in Chiles v. Salazar, when the high court ruled 8-1 that Colorado’s law restricting the content of therapists’ speech, under the guise of banning what the state misleadingly described as “conversion therapy,” was clear viewpoint discrimination under the First Amendment. In 2023 and 2018, the Supreme Court found that Colorado’s anti-discrimination law violated the First Amendment in 303 Creative v. Elenis and Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, respectively.
WHY COLORADO’S LAWS KEEP GETTING STRUCK DOWN BY THE SUPREME COURT
The Supreme Court is likely to hear the St. Mary Catholic Parish case in its next term, which will begin in October. Oral arguments for the case will likely be scheduled sometime between October and April 2027, with a decision expected by the end of June 2027 at the latest.
The high court’s current term is slated to end at the end of June, with all decisions in pending cases expected by then. This term, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on a variety of issues ranging from race-based redistricting to birthright citizenship to laws barring men from women’s sports. The next opinion day, when at least one pending decision is expected to be released, is set for Wednesday.