DOES THE FIRST AMENDMENT ALLOW BIAS?

• Date: 01 February 2023
• Author: Lueders, Bill
• Published date: 01 February 2023
• Author: Lueders, Bill

Lorie Smith says she's just trying to speak her mind. The Colorado website designer claims her ability to do so is being thwarted by a state law that prohibits her from turning away LGBTQ+ people. "Colorado is censoring and compelling my speech," Smith contends. "Forcing me to communicate, celebrate, and create for messages that go against my deeply held [religious] beliefs."

In a case now before the U.S. Supreme Court, Smith is seeking the right to refuse to design wedding websites for same-sex couples, arguing this would violate her Christian values.

No same-sex couple has tried to hire Smith to design a wedding website, and the state of Colorado has not taken any legal action against her. Her lawsuit over Colorado's law barring public accommodations--businesses open to the public--from discriminating against potential customers based on sexual orientation, is entirely preemptive.

Smith's attorney, Kristen Waggoner of the "faith-based legal organization" Alliance Defending Freedom, earlier represented Colorado baker Jack Phillips, who was prosecuted under this same law for refusing to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. In a 2018 decision, the Supreme Court found that the state had shown anti-religious bias toward Phillips but did not settle the question of whether businesses can refuse service to LGBTQ+ people due to religious objections.

Now the high court, with a 6-3 conservative...