Last week, federal court judge Salvador Mendoza, an Obama appointee, blocked the state of Washington from automatically banning those with religiously based objections to department policy from becoming foster parents.
The department’s policies, wrote Mendoza, only burdens “potential caregivers with sincere religious beliefs,” since those with religious beliefs are likely to object to the policy. Even more, these policies probably “favor certain secular viewpoints over certain religious viewpoints,” which is also a violation of religious liberties.