On Friday, June 30, 2023 in a 6-3 vote the United States’ Supreme Court ruled in favor of an amateur Christian Graphic Artist, Lorie Smith, who plans to design wedding websites, but wishes to not design websites for same-sex couples.
Justice Neil Gorsuch delivered the opinion of the Court where he established that “the First Amendment protects an individual’s right to speak his mind regardless of whether the government considers his speech sensible and well intentioned or deeply “misguided…”
The Court agreed with the Tenth Circuit’s conclusion that the websites Smith plans to create are considered “pure speech” (spoken word) because of her intention to use images, words, symbols, etc… in addition to her original customizations. Additionally, Justice Gorsuch noted the Court further agreed with the Tenth Circuit that the websites Smith intends to create would involve “her speech”; therefore, her website creations would be protected under the First Amendment.
Though Justice Gorsuch states that ruling against Smith could allow governments “to force all manner of artists, speechwriters, and others whose services involve speech to speak what they do not believe on pain of penalty.”
In the dissenting opinion, led by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, she said the logic which was used in this case cannot be limited to sexual orientation and warned other public accommodations may use this case to discriminate against other minority groups.
President Joe Biden stated the ruling was “disappointing” and the Court’s decision “weakens long-standing laws that protect all Americans against discrimination in public accommodations – including people of color, people with disabilities, people of faith, and women”.
Smith, who is based out of Colorado, argued that the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) impedes on her First Amendment rights.
CADA does not allow a place of public accommodation- a business which sells a product to the public, including wholesale and retail- to deny “the full and equal enjoyment” of their product(s) to any customer based on race, sexual orientation, disability, creed, etc… CADA does not include places that are used primarily for religious reasons, such as churches, synagogues, or mosques.
As stated in the syllabus of 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, Smith was worried that Colorado’s laws at some point may require her to create a product where she has to “express views with which she disagrees”.
Despite the district court and Tenth Circuit ruling against Smith, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of her, citing her business plans are fully protected under the First Amendment.