U.S. High Court Backs Catholic Group Over Gay Foster-Care Rights

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Philadelphia violated the Constitution when officials excluded a Catholic charity from part of the city’s foster-care program because the group wouldn’t help place children with same-sex couples.

The unanimous ruling said the city infringed the rights of Catholic Social Services by enforcing anti-discrimination requirements in contracts with the private agencies that screen potential foster families.

The decision bore hallmarks of a compromise -- or at least one where the court’s liberal wing limited the damage. All three liberals joined Chief Justice John Roberts’s opinion for the court, while the conservative justices -- Samuel Alito ...