The U.S. Supreme Court stepped into a high-stakes legal battle on Monday, agreeing to decide whether Colorado can legally bar Catholic preschools from participating in its taxpayer-funded universal preschool program.
The case lands on the high court’s docket after a lower appeals court previously sided with the state, upholding Colorado’s decision to exclude certain religious providers from the initiative, which offers families 15 hours of free weekly childcare.
At the heart of the dispute is a clash between state non-discrimination mandates and the religious autonomy of private institutions. To participate in the program, Colorado requires schools to accept all families regardless of factors like sexual orientation, gender identity, or religious affiliation.
However, the Archdiocese of Denver, along with several Catholic families and schools, filed a petition arguing that these rules create a “no-Catholics-need-apply” environment. They contend the state is penalizing them for their religious standards regarding sex and gender.
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The petition filed in November points to what it describes as a double standard in the state’s enforcement.
While the state demands universal access, the filing claims Colorado “nonetheless permits numerous exemptions,” allowing other providers to specifically target and admit “children of color,” “the LGBTQ community,” or low-income families while simultaneously denying religious schools the right to prioritize families who share their faith.
“Colorado promised free preschool for all, then slammed the door on families who chose a religious education for their children,” said Nicholas Reaves, senior counsel at Becket, the firm representing the families. Reaves noted that the Supreme Court has a recent history of protecting religious groups from being excluded from government benefits, adding, “After three losses in religious freedom cases at the Supreme Court, Colorado should know better.”
The legal argument centers on the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Lawyers for the schools argue that as government funding becomes more common in early childhood education—with over 1.75 million children enrolled in state-funded preschools nationwide last year—getting the constitutional analysis right is essential.
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This is not Colorado’s first time facing the current Supreme Court on similar grounds. Just this past March, the Court ruled 8-1 in favor of a Christian mental health counselor in the state, finding that a ban on “conversion therapy” improperly regulated speech based on a specific viewpoint.
The justices will now weigh whether Colorado’s preschool requirements constitute a similar form of discrimination against religious institutions.
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