The city of Philadelphia learned in March 2018 that two of the agencies it had hired to provide foster care services would not, based on religious objection, accept same-sex couples as foster parents. The city then told the agencies their contracts with the city were in jeopardy unless they complied with basic nondiscrimination requirements.

While one of the agencies agreed to comply, the other — Catholic Social Services or CSS— refused. Instead, CSS sued the city, claiming the Constitution gives it the right to opt-out of the nondiscrimination requirement. After a lower court and a federal circuit court ruled in the city’s favor, CSS appealed to the Supreme Court. The case Fulton v. City of Philadelphia has implications, not only for the future of foster care, but for the protection of all people from discrimination in the name of religion. Arguments in the case are set for November 4th.

Louise Melling, Deputy Legal Director of the ACLU, joins us to discuss what's at stake.