Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/19-123_g3bi.pdf
Page Number: 8.0

4 

FULTON v. PHILADELPHIA 

Opinion of the Court 

referring children to CSS without requiring the agency to
certify same-sex couples. 

The  District  Court  denied  preliminary  relief.   It  con-
cluded  that  the  contractual  non-discrimination  require-
ment  and  the  Fair  Practices  Ordinance  were  neutral  and 
generally  applicable  under  Employment  Division,  Depart-
ment of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, 494 U. S. 872 
(1990), and that the free exercise claim was therefore un-
likely  to  succeed.    320  F. Supp. 3d  661,  680–690  (ED  Pa. 
2018).  The  court  also  determined  that  the  free  speech
claims were unlikely to succeed because CSS performed cer-
tifications  as  part  of  a  government  program.    Id.,  at 
695–700. 

The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed.  Be-
cause  the  contract  between  the  parties  had  expired,  the 
court focused on whether the City could insist on the inclu-
sion of new language forbidding discrimination on the basis 
of sexual orientation as a condition of contract renewal.  922 
F. 3d  140,  153  (2019).    The  court  concluded  that  the  pro-
posed contractual terms were a neutral and generally ap-
plicable  policy  under  Smith.  922  F. 3d,  at  152–159.    The 
court rejected the agency’s free speech claims on the same 
grounds as the District Court.  Id., at 160–162. 

CSS  and  the  foster  parents  sought  review.    They  chal-
lenged the Third Circuit’s determination that the City’s ac-
tions  were  permissible  under  Smith  and  also  asked  this 
Court to reconsider that precedent.

We granted certiorari.  589 U. S. ___ (2020). 

II 
A 
The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, appli-
cable to the States under the Fourteenth Amendment, pro-
vides that “Congress shall make no law . . . prohibiting the
free  exercise”  of  religion.  As  an  initial  matter,  it  is  plain