Supreme Court takes up religious liberty case over Colorado's preschool program

Politics Supreme Court takes up religious liberty case over Colorado's universal preschool program By Melissa Quinn Melissa Quinn Senior Reporter, Politics Melissa Quinn is a senior reporter for CBSNews.com, where she covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts. Read Full Bio Melissa Quinn April 20, 2026 / 9:59 AM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Washington — The Supreme Court on Monday said it will consider an appeal from Catholic preschools in Colorado that said they were excluded from the state-funded universal preschool program because they sought to admit only children whose families adhere to the church's teachings on gender and sexual orientation.The legal fight, known as St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, is the latest to land before the Supreme Court in recent years that involve religious entities' participation in state-funded programs. In a string of decisions, the high court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, has ruled in favor of religious plaintiffs who argued they were forced to choose between participating in initiatives backed by taxpayer dollars and adhering to their sincerely held religious beliefs on marriage and sexuality.At the center of the dispute is a 35-year-old decision in the case Employment Division v. Smith, in which the Supreme Court held that laws burdening the free exercise of religion typically do not violate the First Amendment so long as they're neutral and generally applicable.Several of the conservative justices, including Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, have suggested that decades-old decision should be overruled. But the Supreme Court said in its brief order taking up St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy that it will not consider whether to overturn Employment Division v. Smith.Colorado's universal preschool programThe legal battle involves Colorado's universal preschool program, which provides state funding for families to send their 4-year-olds to the pres...