A Big Win for Free Speech from the US Supreme Court

A decision on Friday from the highest court in the United States is a major win for the fundamental freedoms of Americans.

The justices ruled 6-3 in favor of Colorado web designer Lorie Smith, in the case 303 Creative v. Elenis. Smith owns the 303 Creative business which creates custom wedding websites. As a Christian, she wanted to only provide this service for weddings that honor God’s design for marriage, between one man and one woman. But the state of Colorado didn’t allow this, even though their state officials understood that Smith was willing to work with customers who identify as LGBT, as long as her work didn’t violate her faith. (Colorado is also the state that has repeatedly gone after baker Jack Phillips over his decision to not design cakes for gay “marriages” and gender “transitions”).

Smith challenged the Colorado law and lost at the U.S. Court of Appeals in July of 2021. She appealed to the Supreme Court, which has now sided with her.

“The decision means that government officials cannot misuse the law to compel speech or exclude from the marketplace people whose beliefs it dislikes” explained Kristen Waggoner, the president of Alliance Defending Freedom, which argued this case before the Supreme Court. “That’s a win for all Americans – whether one shares Lorie’s beliefs or holds different beliefs. Each of us has the right to decide for ourselves what messages we will communicate – in our words, in our art, in our voice – without interference from the government.”

The decision points to the immense importance of the Constitution, and judges willing to uphold it, in the face of legislatures who are keen to use the force of the law to push their views on the public. And it also marks a very different trajectory from Canada’s Supreme Court, especially with the recent loss of Justice Russell Brown.