Christian groups applauded the Supreme Court’s ruling Friday that held “The First Amendment prohibits Colorado from forcing a website designer to create expressive designs speaking messages with which the designer disagrees.”
Organizations, including the Catholic League, Family Research Council, and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, submitted friend of the court (amici) briefs in support of 303 Creative, the custom website design business owned by Lorie Smith.
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, celebrated the Court’s 6-3 decision in 303 Creative v. Elenis, in which web designer Smith challenged a Colorado law that blocked her from expanding her business to design wedding websites consistent with her Christian faith beliefs about marriage between one man and one woman.
“[T]he U.S. Supreme Court held that the First Amendment rights of a Colorado woman, Lorie Smith, must be respected when it comes to forcing her to express beliefs that are contrary to her conscience,” wrote Donohue. “This is a great victory for free speech and freedom of religion.”
Donohue explained that, in its amicus brief, attorneys for the Catholic League argued that:
… it is clear that the First Amendment provides dual protections for religious expression (or non-expression) in its guarantees of free speech and free religious exercise. This reality compels the conclusion that religious speech enjoys the highest constitutional protection.
Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch stated:
The First Amendment protections belong to all, not just to speakers whose motives the government finds worthy. In this case, Colorado seeks to force an individual to speak in ways that align with its views but defy her conscience about a matter of major significance … Consistent with the First Amendment, the Nation’s answer is tolerance, not coercion. The First Amendment envisions the United States as a rich and complex place where all persons are free to think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands. Colorado cannot deny that promise consistent with the First Amendment.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins also applauded the decision.
“As Christians, we are instructed to do everything, including what we speak and how we work, as unto the Lord for His glory,” Perkins said in a statement. “We cannot check our biblical faith at the door of our vocation. That understanding of free speech and religious freedom has long been protected by the First Amendment. I am grateful that the U.S. Supreme Court strongly reaffirmed this today.”
Similarly, Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, noted in a statement, “Religion and work are not at odds.”
Citing as well the Supreme Court’s decision Thursday in Groff v. DeJoy, in which the Court protected the rights of religious workers in secular businesses, Rassbach said the rulings are “good news for religious Americans of all stripes.”
“Colorado seems to be a reluctant student when it comes to the First Amendment,” said Rassbach. “How many cases will Colorado have to lose before it stops trying to squelch speech? The Court’s ruling today emphasizes just how quixotic it is to force conformity of thought on Americans.”
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Susan Berry, PhD is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Lorie Smith” by Alliance Defending Freedom.
