Fulton v. City of Philadelphia

593 U.S. 522 · U.S. Supreme Court

Holding and boundaries

Philadelphia violated free exercise where its foster-care contract rule permitted individualized exemptions but denied one to a religious agency.

Scope and limitations: The holding is narrow and turns on the exemption structure; it did not overrule Employment Division v. Smith.

Open authoritative source

2 issue placements

Family Recognition

Fulton v. City of Philadelphia rejects, narrows, limits, or supplies adverse authority relevant to Family Recognition. Fit tier: Strong analogue. The placement must be used only within the holding and limitations recorded here.

Scope and limitations: The holding is narrow and turns on the exemption structure; it did not overrule Employment Division v. Smith.

Verification-state description: authoritative_text_identified; pinpoint_and_currentness_review_required

LGBTQ+ Life, Faith & Pluralism

Fulton v. City of Philadelphia rejects, narrows, limits, or supplies adverse authority relevant to LGBTQ+ Life, Faith & Pluralism. Fit tier: Direct. The placement must be used only within the holding and limitations recorded here.

Scope and limitations: The holding is narrow and turns on the exemption structure; it did not overrule Employment Division v. Smith.

Verification-state description: authoritative_text_identified; pinpoint_and_currentness_review_required

Publication and provenance

The authority is published once; issue-specific orientation and fit remain separate placements. Analogue, contextual, and historical-adverse fits are not represented as controlling.

Published under research-publication-clearance-2026-07-21. deterministic validation and objective verification are not claimed.