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A4 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 5 November 2020
High court hears Philly same-sex foster parent dispute

By JESSICA GRESKO plicated here," she asked
The Associated Press at one point.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The The justices heard argu-
Supreme Court on Wednes- ments in the case Wednes-
day seemed likely to side day morning, as it was still
with a Catholic social ser- unclear whether Trump or
vices agency in a dispute Democratic challenger
with Philadelphia over the Joe Biden had won the
agency's refusal to work White House. Though the
with same-sex couples as case in front of the justices
foster parents. was from Pennsylvania,
The case is a big test of reli- among the battleground
gious rights on a more con- states that could prove
servative court. crucial in determining who
Catholic Social Services, wins the presidency, there
which is affiliated with was nothing in the argu-
the Archdiocese of Phila- ments acknowledging the
delphia, says its religious ongoing contest.
views keep it from certify- As they have been do-
ing same-sex couples as ing, the justices heard ar-
foster parents. And it says guments in the case by
it shouldn't be shut out of telephone because of the
a contract with the city to coronavirus pandemic.
find foster homes for chil- The Supreme Court is seen on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Washington. During nearly two hours of
dren. Philadelphia says it Associated Press arguments, several justices
requires all the foster care tions for religious objections rights" the court has recog- ways," he said. brought up the fact that
agencies it works with not to anti-discrimination laws. nized: religious rights and Even liberal Justice Sonia there's no record that any
to discriminate as part of Kavanaugh, for his part, the right to same-sex mar- Sotomayor seemed to rec- same-sex couple has ever
their contract. suggested Wednesday riage. "It seems when those ognize the court was sym- asked to work with Catholic
With the addition of three there should be a way for rights come into conflict, pathetic to Catholic Social Social Services and been
appointees of President Catholic Social Services to all levels of government Services. "If one wanted to turned away. If a couple
Donald Trump, Justices Neil continue to work with fos- should be careful and find a compromise in this did ask, they'd be referred
Gorsuch, Brett Kavana- ter families. The case, Ka- should often, where pos- case, can you suggest one to another of the more
ugh and Amy Coney Bar- vanaugh said, requires the sible and appropriate, look that wouldn't do real dam- than two dozen agencies
rett, the court would seem justices to think about how for ways to accommodate age to all the various lines the city works with, Catho-
poised to extend protec- to balance "very important both interests in reasonable of laws that have been im- lic Social Services says.q

Alabama approves bid to cut racist phrases from Constitution

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Alabama voters Passage eased the fears of supporters who wor-
have approved an amendment that would ried that conservative backlash to the Black
begin the process of deleting racist language Lives Matter movement could hurt the propos-
from the state's 119-year-old constitution, which al, which qualified for the ballot with bipartisan
was approved to entrench white supremacy as legislative support months before nationwide
state law during the Jim Crow era. demonstrations erupted in the wake of the po-
Voters in the majority white, conservative state lice killing of George Floyd.
rejected similar proposals twice since 2000, but Called Amendment 4, the proposal allows state
the measure passed easily in balloting Tuesday. officials to recompile the constitution without
Glenn Crowell, a retired restaurateur and regis- the racist language. Partly because even local
tered Republican who is Black, said he voted to issues require constitutional changes, the docu-
strip away the old phrasing, which the amend- ment already has been amended 948 times
ment's sponsors viewed as an embarrassment and is considered the nation's longest constitu-
and potential roadblock to economic devel- tion.
opment. Statehouse workers will create a draft to excise
"I just want to get rid of that language. It just offensive wording, although sponsors said it was
doesn't make any sense nowadays," said Crow- unclear exactly how much might be removed.
ell, 63, of Montgomery. Legislators then will consider the updated doc-
Courts have long since struck down the legal- ument in 2022, and voters would have to ap-
ized segregation that was enshrined in the 1901 prove the changes again before they take ef-
Alabama Constitution, but language banning fect.
mixed-race marriage, allowing poll taxes and Aside from cutting racist phrasing, the amend-
mandating school segregation remains. ment also allows the Legislature to remove re-
With more than 1.7 million votes cast, the peated language and combine sections re-
This undated image released by the Alabama amendment passed with 67% support. That lated to economic development or specific
Department of Archives and History shows Alabama's means more than 585,000 people voted counties.
1901 Constitution, which was intended to maintain against it. The ballot didn't mention race, and Information technology specialist Phillip Evans,
white supremacy in the state. some voters might not have even known what who is Black and voted for Democrat Joe Biden
Associated Press
the amendment involved. for president, voted for the change.
By JAY REEVES Gov. Kay Ivey didn't take an official position on "That wasn't one of the major ones that I was
Associated Press any of six amendments that were on the ballot, looking at it but I saw it in there and I was like,
including the anti-racism measure. 'Yeah, that makes sense,'" said Evans, 41.q