Fighting and Winning for Religous Freedom in Foster Care
Prof. Wagner and our amazing team of Justice Center appellate attorneys continue to fight, and win, for religious freedom in our nation’s highest Court. Last year we filed a Supreme Court brief supporting a challenge to Philadelphia’s exclusion of Christian people from a foster care system. The city excluded a faith-based organization because of its religious tenets.
A majority of the U.S. Supreme Court just held that Philadelphia’s conduct violated the First Amendment liberty protecting the free exercise of religious conscience. Prof. Wagner and the Justice Center’s legal team called on the Supreme Court to uphold the First Amendment and rule Philadelphia’s actions unconstitutional. Here is an excerpt from our Supreme Court Brief:
The government-imposed SOGI conditions in the case at bar substantially interfere with Petitioners’ religious identity and exercise of its religious conscience. Here, the City expressly requires Petitioners to renounce their religious character and identity to participate in an otherwise accessible public foster care program. When a governmental condition imposes a penalty on the free exercise of religion that government action must face the “most rigorous” scrutiny.
Preserving Truth and defending liberty in this case was made possible by Christian lawyers donating over $20,000 in in-kind services. Costs associated with printing and filing in a case like this average around $2000.