‘The First Amendment’s protections belong to all, not just to speakers whose motives the government finds worthy,’ the ruling states.
The government can’t force Americans like Colorado graphic artist Lorie Smith to affirm beliefs she does not hold, the Supreme Court ruled in a landmark 6-3 decision on Friday.
“The First Amendment’s protections belong to all, not just to speakers whose motives the government finds worthy,” the ruling states.
Activists have tried for years to weaponize Colorado’s sweeping “antidiscrimination” laws to punish people like Smith and Masterpiece Cakeshop cake artist Jack Phillips for wrongthink.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, however, affirmed in the court’s majority opinion that the government can’t force Smith to make wedding websites celebrating same-sex couples because it would violate her constitutional right to exercise her Christian belief that marriage is between a man and a woman.
“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. Because Colorado seeks to deny that promise, the judgment is reversed,” Gorsuch wrote.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that Colorado commissioners displayed “a clear and impermissible hostility toward [Phillips’] sincere religious beliefs” but the decision was light-handed. In fact, a fresh onslaught of activist-led lawsuits proves that the ruling was utterly useless not just for the religious liberty and free speech rights of Americans who believe in biblical marriage but also for the cakeshop owner himself.
Just as with Phillips, Smith did not deny members of her community websites because of who they are attracted to. Instead, the Christian simply rejects the idea that the government should compel her to affirm beliefs completely antithetical to her own with a form of speech — her websites.
