© Erin Schaff / POOL / AFP
Seated from left: Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, standing from left: Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett pose during a group photo of the Justices at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC on April 23, 2021
Amid liberal calls to pack the Supreme Court, the justices handed down two more landslide rulings Thursday on an attempt to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and a Catholic foster agency that was banned from Philadelphia's program over its religious beliefs.
Justice Stephen Breyer led a 7-2 court in upholding the ACA, also known as ObamaCare, saying that the states challenging the law didn't have the standing to do so. And Chief Justice John Roberts led a 9-0 court in siding with the foster agency, Catholic Social Services (CSS) over Philadelphia, in what was widely viewed as a victory for religious freedom advocates.
"CSS seeks only an accommodation that will allow it to continue serving the children of Philadelphia in a manner consistent with its religious beliefs; it does not seek to impose those beliefs on anyone else," Roberts wrote in the majority opinion for the case, officially called Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. "The refusal of Philadelphia to contract with CSS for the provision of foster care services unless it agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents cannot survive strict scrutiny, and violates the First Amendment."
Comment: Borderline insanity!