Supreme Court weighs faith and funding in Colorado’s universal preschool case

The Supreme Court will hear St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, a challenge by Catholic preschools to Colorado’s universal preschool program that bars excluding families based on religious beliefs about gender identity or sexual orientation; the case tests how Free Exercise rights interact with neutral, generally applicable nondiscrimination rules in publicly funded programs, though the Court’s order states it will not overturn Employment Division v. Smith. Lower courts have upheld the program as neutral and generally applicable; the Archdiocese argues an accommodation is required to allow faith-based providers to admit only certain families, while Colorado maintains the rule ensures equal access to subsidies for all families. The Trump administration filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the Catholic challengers.