Catholic Charities,
the umbrella group running the adoption services, had argued that the state did
not have the right to terminate their contracts, as the reason for the
termination was the organisation’s religious beliefs.

The ministry has a
policy of adopting children only to married couples or single non-cohabiting
adults, in keeping with Catholic teaching.  

Illinois’ Department
of Children and Family Services had previously told Catholic Charities that it
was ending the contract over Catholic Charities’ alleged refusal to obey the
2011 “Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act,” which established
legal privileges for same-sex and opposite-sex couples in civil
unions.

However in his ruling
yesterday, Judge John Schmidt held that “no citizen has a recognised legal right
to a contract with the government.” 

Thus, he explained,
the state had no obligation to renew a long-standing arrangement with Catholic
Charities, in the dioceses, as it had annually for over 40
years.

Lawyers from the
Thomas More Society maintained that Catholic Charities was illegitimately losing
its contract due to its exercise of religion. 

Judge Schmidt,
however, bypassed that issue in favor of what he said was the more fundamental
question: not the reason why the state had chosen to pull the contracts after
four decades, but whether the state was obligated to make or renew a contract
with Catholic Charities under any circumstances.

And it was that
question – which Judge Schmidt saw as both separate from the religious issue,
and more basic – that he answered in the negative on Thursday. 

“The fact that the
Plaintiffs have contracted with the State to provide foster care and adoption
services for over forty years does not vest the Plaintiffs with a protected
property interest,” Judge Schmidt stated.

“The Plaintiffs
invite this Court to extend the term ‘legally protected property interest’ to
those whose state contracts are not renewed. The Court declines this
invitation.” 

“In sum,” Judge
Schmidt held, “the Plaintiffs have failed to show they have a legally recognized
property right to renew their contracts. The State may refuse to renew the
Plaintiffs’ contracts.”

The Bishop of the
diocese of Peoria, Daniel R. Jenky, whose diocese is home to one of the Catholic
Charities agencies involved in the lawsuit, expressed disappointment in a
response issued the day of the ruling.  

He stressed Catholic
Charities’ contention that the state had no legitimate cause to end the
contract.

“We continue to
believe we can adhere to our religious principles and operate within Illinois
law,” Bishop Jenky said. 

He recalled that
Catholic Charities has been “one of the lead providers of foster care services
in the state,” and observed that “clearly the intent of the civil union law was
not to force the state to end these contracts and force the transfer of
thousands of children’s cases.”

An appeal against
Judge Schmidt’s August 18 order is possible. The Thomas More Society said on
Thursday that its lawyers were “reviewing the ruling and considering next
actions” with Catholic Charities officials.