WASHINGTON — The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in a case challenging Colorado's state-funded universal preschool program rules, as The Morning Sun reported. The Trump administration joined the Archdiocese of Denver in urging the conservative-majority court to overturn a lower court decision that allowed the state to exclude Roman Catholic preschools that refuse to comply with equal-opportunity standards.
The dispute centers on whether Colorado can require participating schools to adhere to state anti-discrimination laws regarding LGBTQ+ families. The Denver archdiocese and St. Mary Catholic Parish contend that the state's requirements violate their constitutional free-exercise rights, arguing their policies are rooted in religious teachings concerning same-sex marriage and gender.
Colorado's universal preschool initiative, established by voters through a 2020 ballot measure, uses public funds to cover preschool tuition at institutions selected by parents. However, state officials maintain that faith-based providers must abide by anti-discrimination rules to receive state funding. Under the program, the state contends that religious schools are free to teach their faith doctrines, but they cannot turn away children based on protected class status.
Plaintiffs in the case, represented by the legal group Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, argue that Colorado already allows preschools to prioritize admissions for low-income families and children with disabilities. The plaintiffs contend that admissions decisions based on religious beliefs should receive similar allowances. According to the Catholic preschools involved in the case, their enrollment has dropped by 20 percent since Colorado launched the program.
The archdiocese brought the matter to the Supreme Court seeking to reverse a ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which had decided in Colorado's favor. Legal counsel for the archdiocese argued before the court that permitting Catholic schools to receive public funding would expand total preschool capacity across the state without reducing seats among the more than 2,000 existing providers currently in the system. When questioned during arguments, legal counsel for the archdiocese stated that a Catholic preschool would be permitted to deny admission to a child of a same-sex couple if doing so aligns with the institution's sincere religious practices.
Representing Colorado, state attorneys emphasized that public funds come with baseline conditions of non-discrimination that apply to all participating facilities equally. The state argued that families experience direct harm when turned away from publicly funded schools because of their protected status, adding that individual preschools are not interchangeable for parents.
A ruling in favor of the Catholic preschools could further restrict a landmark 1990 Supreme Court precedent. Written by the late Justice Antonin Scalia in a case concerning the spiritual use of peyote, that earlier decision established that broadly applicable, neutral laws do not automatically grant exemptions for religious practices. That 1990 precedent has long faced challenges from conservative legal organizations.
During Tuesday's proceedings, members of the bench signaled varying views on the conflict. Justice Sonia Sotomayor questioned attorneys representing the federal government about the administration's position supporting the religious institutions, noting that existing legal lines protect non-discrimination principles. Meanwhile, Justice Brett Kavanaugh questioned why the state's policies had created what he described as a clash of rights between religious institutions and LGBTQ+ families, asking why a system allowing families to choose fitting schools while respecting religious rights could not be accommodated.
The high court has previously ruled in favor of religious institutions in similar cases originating in Maine and Montana, determining that faith-based entities could not be excluded from state aid programs benefiting private schools. However, in 2025, the Supreme Court deadlocked on a separate case regarding a proposed publicly funded Catholic charter school following the recusal of Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
The Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling in the Colorado case as part of its current term.