Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/19-123_g3bi.pdf
Page Number: 17

Cite as:  593 U. S. ____ (2021) 

13 

Opinion of the Court 

process,  which  must  inform  the  applicability  of  the  ordi-
nance.  We agree with CSS’s position, which it has main-
tained  from  the  beginning  of  this  dispute,  that  its  “foster 
services  do  not  constitute  a  ‘public  accommodation’  under 
the City’s Fair Practices Ordinance, and therefore it is not 
bound by that ordinance.”  App. to Pet. for Cert. 159a.  We 
therefore have no need to assess whether the ordinance is 
generally applicable. 

III 
The contractual non-discrimination requirement imposes 
a burden on CSS’s religious exercise and does not qualify as 
generally  applicable.  The  concurrence  protests  that  the 
“Court  granted  certiorari  to  decide  whether  to  overrule
[Smith],” and chides the Court for seeking to “sidestep the 
question.”  Post,  at  1  (opinion  of  GORSUCH,  J.).  But  the 
Court also granted review to decide whether Philadelphia’s 
actions were permissible under our precedents.  See Pet. for 
Cert. i.  CSS has demonstrated that the City’s actions are
subject to “the most rigorous of scrutiny” under those prec-
edents.  Lukumi, 508 U. S., at 546.  Because the City’s ac-
tions  are  therefore  examined  under  the  strictest  scrutiny
regardless of Smith, we have no occasion to reconsider that 
decision here. 

A government policy can survive strict scrutiny only if it
advances  “interests  of  the  highest  order”  and  is  narrowly 
tailored to achieve those interests.  Lukumi, 508 U. S., at 
546 (internal quotation marks omitted).  Put another way,
so  long  as  the  government  can  achieve  its  interests  in  a 
manner that does not burden religion, it must do so.

The  City  asserts  that  its  non-discrimination  policies 
serve three compelling interests: maximizing the number of 
foster parents, protecting the City from liability, and ensur-
ing equal treatment of prospective foster parents and foster 
children.  The City states these objectives at a high level of