On Friday, the Supreme Court of the United States made a historic ruling in favor of a Colorado graphic designer who did not want to create wedding websites for same-sex couples.
SCOTUS has made a landmark decision that a business should not be forced to provide services for something that goes against their personal or religious beliefs.
A Colorado artist named Lorie Smith, owner of 303 Creative, was concerned that the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) would force her to create websites for marriages that go against her belief that marriage is a union between one man and one woman.
As described in the Court ruling, “CADA prohibits ‘public accommodations’ from denying ‘the full and equal enjoyment’ of its goods and services to any customer based on his race, creed, disability, sexual orientation, or other statutorily enumerated trait.”
Smith was “willing to work with all people regardless of classifications such as race, creed, sexual orientation, and gender” and “will gladly create custom graphics and websites” for any and all clients. However, she does not wish to create content that “contradicts biblical truth.”
The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that Smith was protected by the First Amendment, stating in the ruling, “The First Amendment’s 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,” the ruling added. “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.”
You do not have to bake the cake: In a 6-3 vote, SCOTUS rules in 303 Creative case that government cannot force private businesses or individuals to violate their religious beliefs by providing products services their faiths consider to be sinful. https://t.co/HDbK2NUIYa pic.twitter.com/MCLIrsdWCw
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) June 30, 2023
The ruling was met with anger from the Left because they lost their ability to force their beliefs on everyone.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor criticized the ruling, saying, “Today is a sad day in American constitutional law and in the lives of LGBT people. The Supreme Court… declares that a particular kind of business, though open to the public, has a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class.”
J. Sotomayor dissent: "Today is a sad day in American constitutional law and in the lives of LGBT people. The Supreme Court … declares that a particular kind of business, though open to the public, has a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class."
— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) June 30, 2023
This ruling harkens back to the 2017 Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case, in which cake artist Jack Phillips was found to have violated the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act by refusing to create a cake to celebrate a same-sex marriage.
The Court ruled in favor of Phillips, saying that forcing him to “create expression for and participate in a ceremony that violates his sincerely held religious beliefs invades his First Amendment rights.”
