The US Supreme Court seems likely to side with a Catholic social services agency [1] in a dispute with the city of Philadelphia over the agency’s wish to abide by Catholic teaching when placing children with foster parents [2].
During a hearing last week, Justice Brett Kavanaugh suggested there should be a way for Catholic Social Services to continue to work with foster families. While the case involves “very important rights” regarding freedom of religion and same-sex marriage, he said: “It seems when those rights come into conflict, all levels of government should be careful and should often, where possible and appropriate, look for ways to accommodate both interests in reasonable ways.”
Even liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor seemed to recognise the court was sympathetic to an accommodation. “If one wanted to find a compromise in this case, can you suggest one that wouldn’t do real damage to all the various lines of laws that have been implicated here,” she asked at one point.