Fulton v. Philadelphia
Decided June 17, 2021. John Glover Roberts Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 19-123 · 593 U.S. 522 (2021) · Cited 109 times
Holding
Philadelphia’s refusal to contract with Catholic Social Services for the provision of foster care services unless CSS agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court. Read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 9–0.
Majority · 6
- John G. Roberts, Jr. · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Elena Kagan
- Brett M. Kavanaugh
- Amy Coney Barrett · filed a concurring opinion
- Stephen G. Breyer
Concurring · 3
- Clarence Thomas
- Samuel A. Alito, Jr. · filed an opinion concurring in the judgment
- Neil M. Gorsuch · filed an opinion concurring in the judgment
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith · 494 U.S. 872 (1990)
- Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
- Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
- City of Boerne v. Flores · 521 U.S. 507 (1997)
- Bowen v. Roy · 476 U.S. 693 (1986)
- Wisconsin v. Yoder · 406 U.S. 205 (1972)
- Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
- District of Columbia v. Heller · 554 U.S. 570 (2008)
- Thomas v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division · 450 U.S. 707 (1981)
- Braunfeld v. Brown · 366 U.S. 599 (1961)
- Gillette v. United States · 401 U.S. 437 (1971)
- Texas v. Johnson · 491 U.S. 397 (1989)
- Obergefell v. Hodges · 576 U.S. 644 (2015)
- Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Assn. · 485 U.S. 439 (1988)
- Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União Do Vegetal · 546 U.S. 418 (2006)
- Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 565 U.S. 171 (2012)
- Minersville School District v. Gobitis · 310 U.S. 586 (1940)
- Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
- Garcetti v. Ceballos · 547 U.S. 410 (2006)
- Prince v. Massachusetts · 321 U.S. 158 (1944)
- West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette · 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
- McDonald v. City of Chicago · 561 U.S. 742 (2010)
- West v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co. · 311 U.S. 223 (1940)
- Hernandez v. Commissioner · 490 U.S. 680 (1989)
- Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston, Inc. · 515 U.S. 557 (1995)
- United States v. Lee · 455 U.S. 252 (1982)
- Board of Comm'rs, Wabaunsee Cty. v. Umbehr · 518 U.S. 668 (1996)
- Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. · 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
- Brown v. Socialist Workers '74 Campaign Comm. (Ohio) · 459 U.S. 87 (1982)
- Carroll v. United States · 267 U.S. 132 (1925)
Official text
Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)
Explore from here
John Glover Roberts Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2021). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).