Supreme Court Poised to Back Catholic Schools in Pre-k Dispute

WHO:

CNN - The case, *St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy*, involves a Catholic parish, a Colorado family, Catholic preschools, and the state of Colorado.

CNN - The Trump administration opposes Colorado’s law. Justice Department attorney Sarah Harris argued that Catholic schools require parents to agree to follow Catholic beliefs and act consistently with them.

CNN - Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan questioned attorneys during the argument. Colorado deputy solicitor general Helen Norton defended the state law.

CNN - Becket, a religious public-interest law firm, filed the appeal.

Vox - Chief Justice John Roberts appeared, briefly, as though he might depart from the apparent direction of the argument.

CBS News Politics - The dispute concerns Catholic preschools seeking to participate in Colorado’s universal preschool program.

WHAT:

CNN - The court’s conservative majority questioned whether Colorado’s nondiscrimination law could be reconciled with recent precedents expanding religious schools’ access to public funding.

CNN - The article described the court as a 6-3 conservative majority.

CNN - The court’s prior rulings on religious-school funding largely had not addressed what happens when publicly funded religious schools refuse to enroll a same-sex couple’s child or use a student’s preferred pronoun.

CNN - The article said Maine responded to the court’s 2022 ruling by adopting anti-discrimination language while technically allowing religious schools to participate.

CNN - Alito cited a ruling that year backing a religious counselor’s challenge to Colorado’s conversion-therapy ban, as well as the court’s 2018 ruling for a Colorado baker who refused to make a cake celebrating a same-sex couple’s marriage.

CNN - A majority of the Supreme Court signaled it would allow publicly funded Catholic preschools to refuse enrollment to children of same-sex couples. The dispute pits First Amendment religious protections against laws barring discrimination against LGBTQ people.

CNN - Kavanaugh asked why Colorado had “provoked” the dispute and said the state had missed a “win-win” by not letting Catholic schools opt out to “respect religious rights.” He called it “a would-be solution in search of a problem.”

CNN - Sotomayor said the schools’ position would let them exclude children because exposure to them supposedly caused harm, including children of same-sex couples and children with transgender feelings or beliefs.

CNN - Norton said there was “zero evidence” Colorado targeted religious schools, noting that the state encouraged them to participate and that some, including Catholic schools, did so.

CNN - Barrett asked whether a requirement that pushes out schools with contrary beliefs differs from targeting them. Alito cited other Colorado religious-liberty disputes and asked what the court should make of the state’s record. Norton replied there was “no evidence of any sort of any religious hostility or animus.”

CNN - Kagan warned that a ruling against Colorado could prompt religious objections to children attending public-school classes alongside gay or transgender peers.

WHERE:

CNN - The preschool program and challenged law are in Colorado; the case is before the Supreme Court.

WHEN:

CNN - The court heard oral arguments on Election Day. A decision is expected by the end of June.

WHY:

CNN - Colorado’s dispute arose over whether schools receiving public funding must provide eligible children equal enrollment opportunities regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, and other protected characteristics.

HOW:

CNN - Colorado’s 2020 preschool provision requires publicly funded schools to offer eligible children equal enrollment opportunities regardless of race and religious affiliation, in addition to sexual orientation, gender identity, and other factors.

CNN - Colorado’s 2020 ballot provision created a universal preschool program open to public and private schools and included a nondiscrimination requirement.

CNN - The article says the Supreme Court’s 2022 Maine ruling barred the state from excluding religious schools from a tuition-assistance program merely because they were religious or offered religious instruction.

(UPDATED November 3, 2026 22:03 UTC)

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared ready to let publicly funded Catholic preschools reject same-sex couples’ children. The case pits religious protections against Colorado’s equal-enrollment rule. Colorado says it did not target religious schools; a ruling is expected by June’s end.

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(UPDATED November 3, 2026 21:01 UTC)

Supreme Court justices signaled publicly funded Catholic preschools may refuse children of same-sex couples. The case tests religious protections against Colorado’s requirement that participating preschools prohibit discrimination. The court is expected to rule by the end of June.