Chief Justice John Roberts has advanced a sweeping agenda, ending affirmative action, overturning Roe v. Wade, weakening the Voting Rights Act, and curtailing administrative agency independence. Yet one major focus remains incomplete: religion.

Over the past decade, the Supreme Court has systematically dismantled the legal separation of church and state, establishing that religious institutions deserve the same public benefits as secular ones—a principle without constitutional precedent. In 2017, Roberts authored a decision requiring Missouri to fund a church's playground resurfacing despite a constitutional 'no aid' provision, calling exclusion 'odious to our Constitution.' The court's 2022 decision in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia marked another milestone.

Now, the court faces a new case from Colorado's universal preschool program, where the Archdiocese of Denver seeks exemptions from nondiscrimination rules regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, citing Catholic doctrine. The outcome could establish whether religion deserves not just equality but preference over secular institutions.