Fulton v. City of Philadelphia
E11639
Fulton v. City of Philadelphia is a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Court unanimously ruled that Philadelphia violated a Catholic foster care agency’s religious freedom by excluding it from the foster program over its refusal to certify same-sex couples.
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
First Amendment case
→
United States Supreme Court case → court case → religious freedom case → |
| appliedTest |
strict scrutiny
→
|
| concerns |
Catholic Social Services foster care program
→
City of Philadelphia foster care system → |
| decisionType |
unanimous decision
→
|
| didNotOverrule |
Employment Division v. Smith
→
|
| hasArgumentDate |
2020-11-04
→
|
| hasChiefJustice |
John G. Roberts, Jr.
→
|
| hasCitation |
141 S. Ct. 1868
→
210 L. Ed. 2d 137 → 593 U.S. ___ → |
| hasConcurringJustice |
Amy Coney Barrett
→
Brett M. Kavanaugh → Clarence Thomas → Elena Kagan → Neil M. Gorsuch → Samuel A. Alito, Jr. → Sonia Sotomayor → Stephen G. Breyer → |
| hasCourt |
Supreme Court of the United States
→
|
| hasDecisionDate |
2021-06-17
→
|
| hasDocketNumber |
19-123
→
|
| hasLegalIssue |
Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment
→
LGBT rights and foster care certification → religious freedom in government contracting → |
| hasOpinionAuthor |
John G. Roberts, Jr.
→
|
| hasPetitioner |
Catholic Social Services
→
Sharonell Fulton → |
| hasRespondent |
City of Philadelphia
→
|
| hasSubjectArea |
LGBT rights in the United States
→
civil rights law → constitutional law → religion and the law → |
| hasTerm |
October Term 2020
→
|
| hasVote |
9-0
→
|
| holding |
Philadelphia violated the Free Exercise Clause by refusing to contract with Catholic Social Services unless it agreed to certify same-sex couples as foster parents
→
The City’s refusal to contract with Catholic Social Services unless it agreed to certify same-sex couples burdened religious exercise and was not justified under strict scrutiny → |
| interpretsPrecedent |
Employment Division v. Smith
→
|
| involves |
religious objections to certifying same-sex couples
→
same-sex couples seeking foster parent certification → |
| jurisdiction |
federal question jurisdiction
→
|
| originatedFrom |
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
→
|
| relatedTo |
Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
→
Obergefell v. Hodges → |
| reliefGranted |
injunctive relief allowing Catholic Social Services to participate in the foster care program without certifying same-sex couples
→
|
| reversed |
Third Circuit decision
→
|
Referenced by (1)
| Subject (surface form when different) | Predicate |
|---|---|
|
Free Exercise Clause
→
|
interpretedInCase |