The most recent Supreme Court (SCTOUS) term contained several cases of interest to Catholics, including Tennessee’s ban on transgender procedures for minors bill, opting out of LGBTQ content in schools, Wisconsin’s Catholic Charities religious exemption, and ID verification for pornography.
United States v. Skrmetti
In a 6-3 decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court upheld the State of Tennessee’s ban on so-called ‘gender affirming care,’ and argued that the bill, SB1, does not violate the Equal Protection Clause.” Dr. Kenneth Craycraft, a lawyer and moral theologian, told Drew Mariani, “It’s going to be a landmark case” that will have ramifications for states with similar bans.
Justices Thomas and Barrett, both Catholics, joined Roberts with concurring opinions. Craycraft told Drew that Thomas’ opinion rightfully calls transgender medical establishment. “There are particularly good reasons to question the expert class here, as recent revelations suggest that leading voices in this area have relied on questionable evidence, and have allowed ideology to influence their medical guidance,” Thomas wrote.
Mahmoud v. Taylor
In another 6-3 decision, the Court ruled that parents in Montgomery County, Maryland can opt-out of “instruction that includes LGBTQ+ themes,” according to SCOTUSblog.
Legal scholar Ed Whelan told Drew Mariani that the County originally offered parents the ability to opt out, but “too many people were availing themselves of it, and it would undermine what they wanted to do.” The County then removed the ability to opt-out, and the parents sued.
In his majority opinion, Justice Alito wrote, “It must be emphasized that what the parents seek here is not the right to micromanage the public school curriculum, but rather to have their children opt out of a particular educational requirement that burdens their well-established right ‘to direct ‘the religious upbringing’ of their children.’”
Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin LIRC
In a unanimous decision, the nation’s highest court ruled that Catholic Charities of Wisconsin was discriminated against when the State of Wisconsin forced the organization to pay the state’s unemployment tax, a violation of the First Amendment.
Earlier last year, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Catholic Charities does not operate “primarily for religious purposes,” and thus did not qualify for a tax exemption.
In her opinion, Justice Sotomayor said the case involved “textbook denominational discrimination.”
Free Speech Coalition v Paxton
Finally, the Court ruled 6-3 that the state can enforce the Texas age verification law for pornography sites. The law, H.B. 1181, passed in 2023, aimed “restricting access to sexual material harmful to minors” on the internet. However, according to SCOTUSblog, “Senior U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra temporarily blocked the state from enforcing it.”
In his majority opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas argued that the law was not a violation of the First Amendment. “The First Amendment leaves undisturbed States’ traditional power to prevent minors from accessing speech that is obscene from their perspective.” This law, according to Thomas, “does not directly regulate adults’ protected speech.”