Nov 9, 2026 · 54 min
Catholic schools test the Court’s vision of religious liberty
SCOTUS Leans Toward Catholic Schools at Expense of LGBTQ Rights
The case could clarify how far publicly funded religious schools may go in excluding LGBTQ families while claiming First Amendment protection.
- 1A Colorado preschool dispute pits religious-liberty claims against nondiscrimination rules tied to public funding.
- 2Caroline Mala Corbin argues the schools seek taxpayer support while retaining an unusually broad power to exclude LGBTQ families.
- 3The episode connects the case to the Court’s conservative majority, possible vacancies, reform proposals, and a separate Kroger-Albertsons lawsuit.
Don't miss
Caroline Mala Corbin explains why allowing publicly funded Catholic preschools to exclude LGBTQ families would make religious exemptions unusually powerful.
The brief
Colorado’s publicly funded preschool program requires nondiscrimination, but Catholic schools argue the First Amendment lets them exclude children of same-sex or transgender parents.
Professor Caroline Mala Corbin says the schools want public benefits without accepting the program’s equal-access rules, raising questions about dignity and the reach of religious exemptions.
The discussion predicts a likely victory for the schools and places the case within a broader conservative Supreme Court agenda involving religious rights, presidential power, guns, and abortion.
The episode then turns to Albertsons’ $24.6 billion merger lawsuit against Kroger, where proving that better efforts could have saved the deal may be difficult.
Antitrust expert Harry First questions whether Kroger presented a credible divestiture strategy and explains why damages claims face the challenge of showing a different outcome was achievable.
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