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Huge Win for Religious Liberties

It was a unanimous 9-0 decision by the Supreme Court earlier today. And a huge win for religious liberties. Long story short:

1. Catholic Social Services (CSS) is one of numerous agencies that provides foster placement services in the Philadelphia area.

2. As a Catholic organization, CSS has faith-based objections to placing foster children with same-sex couples.

3. As a result, the City of Philadelphia refused to enter into contracts with CSS for foster services based on their religious objections.

4. Earlier today, the Supreme Court had the final say, ruling unanimously that Philly was wrong, and had been violating the First Amendment rights of Catholic Social Services.

Same sex couples still obviously have a variety of other foster agency options, so it's not like they're being denied anything when CSS has faith-based objections. In a well-worded excerpt from one of the majority opinions, Chief Justice John Roberts said that Catholic Social Services "seeks only an accommodation that will allow it to continue serving the children of Philadelphia in a manner consistent with its religious beliefs; it does not seek to impose those beliefs on anyone else." That's about as clear as it gets.

There are other cases in the judicial pipeline similar in nature, including one here in South Carolina for Miracle Hill Ministries, another faith-based agency. Hopefully today's decision is a good indicator for those religious organizations.