Puzzles

Interactive Bibliocipher Bible by Megan Young

Supreme Court hears Colorado
religious discrimination case
WASHINGTON (BP) — The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Nov. 3 in a case regarding a Colorado law that critics claim constitutes religious discrimination. A group of Catholic preschools is fighting the law because it does not allow an exemption for them to participate in the state’s preschool funding program. Colorado’s universal preschool program (known as UPK) was created in 2022 and offers funding for up to 15 hours of weekly preschool education at any licensed public or private school provided it agrees to an “equal opportunity mandate,” which requires the school to service students regardless of “sexual orientation or gender identity,” among other things. Catholic preschools under the Archdiocese of Denver, including St. Mary Catholic Parish, filed a federal lawsuit alleging discrimination in August 2023. St. Mary Catholic Parish, along with more than 30 other Catholic preschools in Denver, requires employees and admitted families to affirm a biblical ethic with regard to gender and sexuality. St. Mary’s application to the program and request for a religious exemption were denied by the state. This was despite other schools in the state receiving exceptions for other secular reasons such as “enrollment preferences.” St. Mary Catholic Parish was joined in the lawsuit by St. Bernadette Catholic Parish, The Archdiocese of Denver and two parents of preschool-age children. The plaintiffs allege their exclusion from the universal preschool funding program violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The funding Colorado’s UPK offers, which it denied the petitioners, can total more than $6,000 per school year.