Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights v. City and County of San Francisco

I. Facts1

We address whether Catholics and a Catholic advocacy group in San Francisco may sue the City on account of an official resolution denouncing their church and doctrines of their religion. They may.

Pope Paul III established the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith a half millennium ago.2 It safeguards and pro- motes Catholic doctrine on faith and morals. In 2003, the Congregation addressed homosexual marriage and adoption, concluding that both were immoral, and that it was the moral duty of Catholics to oppose both. To carry out this doctrinal decision, Cardinal William Joseph Levada directed the Arch- diocese of San Francisco that Catholic agencies should not place children for adoption in homosexual households.

San Francisco immediately responded with official hostil- ity. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted the reso- lution giving rise to this lawsuit. The resolution urges the 1 Because the complaint was dismissed under Federal Rule of Civil Pro- cedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim on which relief could be granted, we take the factual allegations from the complaint to determine whether, if proved, they would establish a claim. Sacks v.…