Dentons, the world’s largest law firm, late last week filed an amicus brief in the US Supreme Court in Sharonell Fulton et al v City of Philadelphia, arguing that taxpayer-funded agencies performing public services under government contracts cannot discriminate, regardless of their religious mandate.

Dentons is representing the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), a nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to the advancement and protection of the legal rights and opportunities of women and girls, and the 35 other civil justice organizations that joined in support of the City of Philadelphia. Dentons counsel Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry, the successful campaign to secure equal marriage rights for same-sex couples in the United States, is counsel of record for amici curiae.

The case addresses whether religious organizations, in this case Catholic Social Services, performing public services under government contracts can turn away same-sex families based on their religious beliefs. The brief takes the position that taxpayer funds cannot be used to further discriminate, and catalogs the many ways allowing religiously-motivated discrimination in social services could potentially harm women and girls in schools, the workplace, in access to healthcare and in public spaces, concluding:

If this Court accepts the position that those who object to non-discrimination requirements are shielded from compliance by the First Amendment’s free exercise or free speech clauses, it will expose women and girls to the risk of greater discrimination in all aspects of their lives, as detailed herein, particularly because sex discrimination is often rooted in religious beliefs.

The Dentons team was comprised of lawyers across the country, including Leah Bruno, Peter Stockburger, Nickolas Kacprowski, Jacqueline Giannini, Rachel Ross and Candace Hough.

Oral argument in this high-profile matter is scheduled for November 4, 2020.

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