Colorado web designer’s Supreme Court case pits free speech against commercial conduct – By Kaelan Deese (Washington Examiner) / Oct 30, 2022
Denver, Colorado-based website designer Lorie Smith does not want to be compelled to create custom websites for same-sex weddings, an issue that Supreme Court justices will tangle with in a case that pits the freedom of speech against commercial conduct.
That issue was the subject of a conversation hosted by the Alliance Defending Freedom that transformed into a cordial debate Tuesday night between attorneys discussing the free speech case 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis during an event at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
Smith, the owner of 303 Creative, filed a lawsuit to challenge a Colorado law that would force her to make custom wedding websites for same-sex couples, the same law that was used against Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips. The director of the Colorado Civil Rights Division, Aubrey Elenis, is the respondent in the case.
“We’re the last Western country in the world that continues to have robust free speech protection and that has resisted government compulsion, government censorship laws, like what is being seen right now throughout Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand,” said Kristen Waggoner, the general counsel for ADF who will represent Smith when justices hear arguments in the case on Dec. 5.
