The free speech rights of two Christian artists who make wedding invitations were violated by an anti-discrimination ordinance in Phoenix that makes it illegal to refuse service to same-sex couples for religious reasons, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday.
The 4-3 decision reversed lower-court rulings favoring the city.
The state Supreme Court said its ruling is limited to only the creation of custom wedding invitations by Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski and isn’t a blanket exemption from the ordinance for all their business operations.
The artists, who believe a marriage should be between only a man and woman, had argued that the ordinance would violate their religious beliefs by forcing them to custom-make products for same-sex marriage ceremonies.
The high court said the city can’t force them to make same-sex wedding invitations.
House Democrats Flip, Join Republicans to Overturn Biden-Era Regulation
Trump Issues Stern Mandate, Tells Tech Titans They Will Not Run Up American Utility Bills
Johnson: ‘No boots on the ground’ for Trump’s Greenland acquisition plans amid military speculation
Trump flips off Ford factory worker who yelled ‘pedophile protector’
Rubio says US can’t return 137 deported Venezuelans due to ‘delicate’ negotiations with Maduro’s successor
11 House Dems buck party to side with Republicans in reversal of Biden-era shower regulation
College basketball player gunned down on Nashville freeway, police hunting for suspects
‘Dilbert’ Creator and Right-Wing Commentator Scott Adams Dies at Age 68
Iran goes dark as regime unleashes force, cyber tools to crush protests
Afghan illegal immigrant who stabbed sister for being ‘bad Muslim girl’ arrested by ICE agents in New York
Lawmakers warn Philly officials against prosecuting ICE agents: ‘That’s not how America works’
Republican Congressman Forced to Close Office After ‘Credible Threats and Calls for Violence’
Newsom blasts proposed California billionaire tax but keeps door open to national debate
BREAKING: Republican House Oversight Committee to Hold Bill Clinton in Contempt
Watch: Whoopi Goldberg Attempts to Walk Back Vicious Anti-ICE Comment After Thinking It Over During Commercial Break
“Duka and Koski’s beliefs about same-sex marriage may seem old-fashioned, or even offensive to some,” the court majority wrote. “But the guarantees of free speech and freedom of religion are not only for those who are deemed sufficiently enlightened, advanced, or progressive. They are for everyone.”
In the dissenting opinion, the court’s minority said the case doesn’t concern the content of custom wedding products but instead pertains to the identity of customers.
“Today’s decision is also deeply troubling because its reasoning cannot be limited to discrimination related to same-sex marriage or based on the beliefs of any one religion, but instead extends more broadly to other claims of a ‘right’ by businesses to deny services to disfavored customers,” the opinion states.
The majority ruling said the city and dissenting justices claimed that if the court were to dare to let the artists express their beliefs, “we, in essence, run the risk of resurrecting the Jim Crow laws of the Old South.”
Lawyers for the city are examining potential grounds for an appeal.
House Democrats Flip, Join Republicans to Overturn Biden-Era Regulation
Trump Issues Stern Mandate, Tells Tech Titans They Will Not Run Up American Utility Bills
Johnson: ‘No boots on the ground’ for Trump’s Greenland acquisition plans amid military speculation
Trump flips off Ford factory worker who yelled ‘pedophile protector’
Rubio says US can’t return 137 deported Venezuelans due to ‘delicate’ negotiations with Maduro’s successor
11 House Dems buck party to side with Republicans in reversal of Biden-era shower regulation
College basketball player gunned down on Nashville freeway, police hunting for suspects
‘Dilbert’ Creator and Right-Wing Commentator Scott Adams Dies at Age 68
Iran goes dark as regime unleashes force, cyber tools to crush protests
Afghan illegal immigrant who stabbed sister for being ‘bad Muslim girl’ arrested by ICE agents in New York
Lawmakers warn Philly officials against prosecuting ICE agents: ‘That’s not how America works’
Republican Congressman Forced to Close Office After ‘Credible Threats and Calls for Violence’
Newsom blasts proposed California billionaire tax but keeps door open to national debate
BREAKING: Republican House Oversight Committee to Hold Bill Clinton in Contempt
Watch: Whoopi Goldberg Attempts to Walk Back Vicious Anti-ICE Comment After Thinking It Over During Commercial Break
Mayor Kate Gallego, a Democrat, emphasized that the ordinance remains in effect.
“I want to be clear: The city of Phoenix does not and will not tolerate hate in any form,” Gallego said. “That doesn’t change with today’s ruling and we will not stop with our fight.”
In 2018, the US Supreme Court sided with a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, finding that state’s civil rights commission showed anti-religious bias when it ruled against the baker for refusing to make the cake.
The Supreme Court decision, however, didn’t address the larger issue of whether a business can invoke religious objections to refuse service to gay and lesbian people.
An Arizona state law that bars discrimination by businesses doesn’t include sexual orientation as a protected class. Phoenix, Tempe, Flagstaff and Tucson have passed ordinances banning businesses from discriminating on that basis.
So far, Phoenix hasn’t taken any enforcement actions stemming from the ban.
House Democrats Flip, Join Republicans to Overturn Biden-Era Regulation
Trump Issues Stern Mandate, Tells Tech Titans They Will Not Run Up American Utility Bills
Johnson: ‘No boots on the ground’ for Trump’s Greenland acquisition plans amid military speculation
Trump flips off Ford factory worker who yelled ‘pedophile protector’
Rubio says US can’t return 137 deported Venezuelans due to ‘delicate’ negotiations with Maduro’s successor
11 House Dems buck party to side with Republicans in reversal of Biden-era shower regulation
College basketball player gunned down on Nashville freeway, police hunting for suspects
‘Dilbert’ Creator and Right-Wing Commentator Scott Adams Dies at Age 68
Iran goes dark as regime unleashes force, cyber tools to crush protests
Afghan illegal immigrant who stabbed sister for being ‘bad Muslim girl’ arrested by ICE agents in New York
Lawmakers warn Philly officials against prosecuting ICE agents: ‘That’s not how America works’
Republican Congressman Forced to Close Office After ‘Credible Threats and Calls for Violence’
Newsom blasts proposed California billionaire tax but keeps door open to national debate
BREAKING: Republican House Oversight Committee to Hold Bill Clinton in Contempt
Watch: Whoopi Goldberg Attempts to Walk Back Vicious Anti-ICE Comment After Thinking It Over During Commercial Break
A lawyer representing the Arizona artists portrayed the state high court ruling as a sweeping victory, even though the justices limited their ruling to custom wedding invitations.
“Regardless of one’s view on marriage, this is a win for all citizens of Arizona, because a government that can crush Joanna and Breanna can crush any one of us,” said Jonathan Scruggs, an attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative advocacy organization that brought the case.
Scruggs acknowledged the ruling doesn’t automatically protect other business owners, who would need to seek their own court order to avoid running afoul of the nondiscrimination ordinances in Phoenix or other Arizona cities.
Jenny Pizer, law and policy director for the LGBT rights group Lambda Legal, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the city’s position, said the ruling was troubling.
“The court misguidedly has concluded that free speech protections allow businesses to express anti-gay religious views by denying particular custom-design services to customers because of who they are,” Pizer said.
Story cited here.
