From Lasche v. N.J., decided yesterday by the Third Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Peter Phipps, joined by Judges Thomas Hardiman and Robert Cowen:
Two foster parents with religious views against same-sex marriage and homosexual conduct had their foster child removed and their foster license suspended. The foster parents claim that a New Jersey state agency took those actions based on their religious beliefs….
A Christian couple in New Jersey, Michael and Jennifer Lasche, have "traditional values and beliefs about family, marriage and sex." For over ten years, they served as foster parents.
In September 2017, the Monmouth County Office of the New Jersey Division of Child Placement and Permanency ('DCPP') contacted the Lasches about fostering two children. The children were sisters, one was thirteen ('Foster Child 1') and the other was ten ('Foster Child 2'). They also had three younger siblings who were placed in foster care. After speaking with a DCPP caseworker, Kyle Higgins, and her supervisor, Katie Epperly, the Lasches agreed to foster the two girls.
By November 2017, the girls' biological parents no longer retained any parental rights, and in October and December the Lasches heard from the caseworker, Higgins, that they were under consideration to adopt the girls.
But three weeks after informing the Lasches that they might be able to adopt the children, Higgins told the Lasches that a couple in Illinois was interested in adopting all five siblings. The Lasches inquired about the prospective adoptive family, and both Higgins and her supervisor, Epperly, stated that they did not know the answers to those questions. Later, in discussing the putative adoption with the foster parents for the other siblings, the Lasches learned that the Illinois couple was "two wealthy gay men with lots of family around to support them and the adoption."
