An Illinois judge has ruled that the state has the right to end its
foster care partnership with Catholic Charities in four dioceses,
despite the Church ministry's contention that it was being dropped on
religious grounds.
In his August 18 ruling, Illinois Circuit
Court Judge John Schmidt held that “no citizen has a recognized legal
right to a contract with the government.”
Thus, he explained, the
state had no obligation to renew a long-standing arrangement with
Catholic Charities in the dioceses, as it had annually for over 40
years.
But Catholic Charities argued that the state refused to
renew the contracts because of the ministry's policy of adopting
children only to married couples or single non-cohabiting adults, in
keeping with Catholic teaching. Attorneys from the Thomas More Society
maintained that Catholic Charities was illegitimately losing its
contract due to its exercise of religion.
Illinois' Department of
Children and Family Services had previously told Catholic Charities that
it was ending the contract over Catholic Charities' alleged refusal to
obey the 2011 “Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act,” which
established legal privileges for same-sex and opposite-sex couples in
civil unions.
Judge Schmidt, however, bypassed that issue in
favor of what he said was the more fundamental question: not the reason
why the state had chosen to pull the contracts after four decades, but
whether the state was obligated to make or renew a contract with
Catholic Charities under any circumstances.
And it was that
question – which Judge Schmidt saw as both separate from the religious
issue, and more basic – that he answered in the negative on Thursday.
“The
fact that the Plaintiffs have contracted with the State to provide
foster care and adoption services for over forty years does not vest the
Plaintiffs with a protected property interest,” Judge Schmidt stated.
“The
Plaintiffs invite this Court to extend the term 'legally protected
property interest' to those whose state contracts are not renewed. The
Court declines this invitation.”
“In sum,” Judge Schmidt held,
“the Plaintiffs have failed to show they have a legally recognized
property right to renew their contracts. The State may refuse to renew
the Plaintiffs' contracts.”
Peoria Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, whose
diocese is home to one of the Catholic Charities agencies involved in
the lawsuit, expressed disappointment in a response issued the day of
the ruling.
He stressed Catholic Charities' contention that the state
had no legitimate cause to end the contract.
“We continue to believe we can adhere to our religious principles and operate within Illinois law,” Bishop Jenky said.
He
recalled that Catholic Charities has been “one of the lead providers of
foster care services in the state,” and observed that “clearly the
intent of the civil union law was not to force the state to end these
contracts and force the transfer of thousands of children’s cases.”
An
appeal against Judge Schmidt's August 18 order is possible. The Thomas
More Society said on Thursday that its lawyers were “reviewing the
ruling and considering next actions” with Catholic Charities officials.