{"id":1345178,"date":"2022-02-26T09:53:06","date_gmt":"2022-02-26T14:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1345178"},"modified":"2022-02-26T09:53:12","modified_gmt":"2022-02-26T14:53:12","slug":"scotus-to-decide-if-colorado-can-force-christian-website-designer-to-work-with-same-sex-couples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-to-decide-if-colorado-can-force-christian-website-designer-to-work-with-same-sex-couples\/","title":{"rendered":"SCOTUS to Decide if Colorado Can Force Christian Website Designer to Work with Same-Sex Couples\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fscotus-to-decide-if-colorado-can-force-christian-website-designer-to-work-with-same-sex-couples%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1345178&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/same-sex-wedding-cake-topper-women-getty-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\"><span>The Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to take up a case in which a Christian website designer alleges that Colorado law would force her to design wedding websites for same-sex couples in spite of her convictions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The case involves artist Lorie Smith, owner of\u00a0<\/span><span>graphic design firm 303 Creative LLC, and Director of the Colorado Civil Rights Division\u00a0Aubrey Elenis (and several other division officials). Smith wants to expand her business to include designing wedding websites, \u201cpromoting her understanding of marriage.\u201d She also wants to post a statement on her website \u201cexplaining that she can only speak messages consistent with her faith,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/DocketPDF\/21\/21-476\/193619\/20210924115918275_USSC%20Petition%20for%20Writ%20of%20Certiorari.pdf\">according<\/a> to the cert petition. Attorneys argue that the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) would require her to \u201ccreate custom websites celebrating same-sex marriage\u201d and would prohibit her statement of faith.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit sided with the Colorado officials, the judges concluding that the \u201cgovernment may, based on content and viewpoint, force Lorie to convey messages that violate her religious beliefs and restrict her from explaining her faith,\u201d Smith\u2019s attorneys argue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A federal court struck down laws that prohibit mental health professionals from counseling children and teens who are troubled by unwanted same-sex attractions or gender dysphoria. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/47BR2FUd7G\">https:\/\/t.co\/47BR2FUd7G<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartNews\/status\/1330717254300921858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 23, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cThe court also upheld CADA under Employment Division v. Smith, even though CADA creates a \u201cgerrymander\u201d where secular artists can decline to speak but religious artists cannot, meaning the government can compel its approved messages,\u201d the cert petition continues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>The Tenth Circuit ruled that Smith\u2019s \u201ccreation of wedding websites is pure speech,\u201d and that the state law would force her to create speech she does not personally believe in. Ultimately, the federal appeals court said Colorado\u2019s law is narrowly tailored to the state\u2019s interest because it allows LGBTQ customers to access Smith\u2019s services. While other businesses would likely not have an issue designing a website for same-sex couples, the court ruled that those customers \u201cwill never be able to obtain wedding related services of the same quality and nature\u201d as the services Smith provides.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Attorneys for Smith argued that the Tenth Circuit\u2019s \u201cbizarre reasoning turns free speech protections on their head.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe more \u201cunique\u201d speech is, the more the government can compel it,\u201d they alleged.\u00a0The cert petition also cited part of the dissenting opinion from Tenth Circuit Judge\u00a0Timothy Tymkovich.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[T]he scope of the majority\u2019s opinion is staggering,\u201d allowing the government to \u201cregulate the messages communicated by all artists,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p><span>Attorneys for Elenis filed a reply brief in late December, arguing that Smith has no legal standing because she has not actually started designing wedding websites, making her case a \u201c<\/span><span>pre-enforcement challenge on hypothetical facts\u201d which \u201cwill not allow this Court to reliably analyze that exception,\u201d the reply brief <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/DocketPDF\/21\/21-476\/204487\/20211208133750181_303%20Creative%20BIO%20-%20FINAL%20-%2012.08.21.pdf\">states<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The baker who was sued for refusing to make a cake for a same-sex wedding because of his religious conscience, was back in court on Thursday, this time for turning down a request for a \u201cgender transition\u201d cake. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fNLcrRFfyc\">https:\/\/t.co\/fNLcrRFfyc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartNews\/status\/1249453735044100103?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 12, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>The state also argues that Smith\u2019s LLC has \u201cfail[ed] to show that it faces a credible threat of enforcement under the Act,\u201d and that CADA is \u201cneutral\u201d because it was \u201cnot enacted to target any religious beliefs or practices\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Even though both Smith and Elenis had several legal questions for the justices, the Supreme Court agreed to answer one question in the case: \u201cwhether applying a public accommodation law to compel an artist to speak or stay silent violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Justices agreed to take up Smith\u2019s case just four years after they ruled in favor of Colorado baker Jack Phillips. In that case, Phillips refused to make a cake for a same-sex couple because doing so violated his Christian beliefs. However, the justices did not rule on the central question in his case: whether being made to bake a cake for a same-sex couple violated his First Amendment right to freedom of speech.<\/p>\n<p>The Justices did not set a date for oral arguments, meaning the case will most likely be heard during the next session.<\/p>\n<p><span>The case is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/search.aspx?filename=\/docket\/docketfiles\/html\/public\/21-476.html\"><em>303 Creative LLC v. Elenis<\/em><\/a>, No. 21-476 in the Supreme Court of the United States.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><em>Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/katherineeeeee2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to take up a case in which a Christian website designer alleges that Colorado law would force her to design wedding websites for same-sex<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1345178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1345178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1345178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1345178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1345178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}