SCOTUS Rules in Favor of Christian Web Designer

UPDATE, June 30, 2023: The Supreme Court ruled Friday that Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission cannot compel graphic designer Lori Smith to create wedding websites that violate her beliefs.

Smith, a Christian and the owner of graphic design firm 303 Creative, had preemptively sued for an injunction against Colorado state law meant to protect certain groups from discrimination. Both Smith and the state of Colorado had stipulated that she would serve same-sex individuals, but she refused to produce same-sex wedding websites, saying creating such messages would violate her beliefs.

Justice Neil Gorsuch took wrote the majority opinion in the 6-3 decision, taking direct aim at Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s opinion. “Today, however the dissent abandons what this Court’s cases have recognized time and time again: A commitment to speech for only some messages and some persons is no commitment at all.”

He continued: “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.”