Cheating spouses, black Santa, KKK: Supreme Court justices dive into wild hypothetical arguments in free speech case – By Kaelan Deese (Washington Examiner) / Dec 5, 2022
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in a case about whether a custom webpage designer who disagrees with LGBT marriage can refuse to create a website for a same-sex couple if the service itself constitutes a form of compelled speech, diving into a range of wild and surprising hypothetical arguments by the justices.
The justices were hearing arguments in business owner Lorie Smith’s appeal seeking an exemption from a Colorado law that blocks discrimination based on sexual orientation and other factors after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled in favor of the state.
Although the liberal justices leaned more in favor of Colorado’s arguments, the 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court appeared to favor Smith’s argument that the First Amendment preempts Colorado’s law while presenting increasingly wild hypothetical arguments to drive their points.
“Based on today’s oral argument, it appears that a majority of the Supreme Court is willing to hold that expressive services provided by businesses do indeed enjoy First Amendment speech protection,” Dale Carpenter, a professor at SMU Dedman School of Law, told the Washington Examiner.
