The state of Colorado will pay more than $1.5 million in attorney fees to graphic artist Lorie Smith and her design studio, 303 Creative, for violating her First Amendment rights.
The settlement comes after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last year in 303 Creative v. Elenis upholding free speech for all Americans, and was announced today by Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Smith before the high court.
In June 2016, Smith filed a pre-enforcement challenge to the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, which she believed would force her to violate her belief that marriage is a union between one man and one woman.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled against Smith in July 2021, with the two-judge majority concluding that “Colorado has a compelling interest in protecting both the dignity interests of members of marginalized groups and their material interests in accessing the commercial marketplace.”
Smith appealed to the Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in December 2022. The high court ruled 6-3 in June 2023 that Smith’s constitutional rights to free speech would be violated if she were compelled to design customized websites for same-sex weddings as the owner of 303 Creative. The Court deemed the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, which prohibits businesses providing sales or services to the public from denying services to someone based on their identity, is unconstitutional.
“Colorado officials threatened and censored Smith’s speech for nearly seven years before she was victorious at the high court,” ADF said in its announcement. “They have also relentlessly pursued other Colorado artists—like cake designer Jack Phillips—for years, filing complaints against him for expressing only messages consistent with his religious beliefs.”
The government can’t force Americans to say things they don’t believe, and Colorado officials have paid and will continue to pay a high price when they violate this foundational freedom, said ADF CEO and President Kristen Waggoner.
“For the past 12 years, Colorado has targeted people of faith and forced them to express messages that violate their conscience and that advance the government’s preferred ideology. First Amendment protections are non-negotiable. Billions of people around the world believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman and that men and women are biologically distinct.”
She continued: “No government has the right to silence individuals for expressing these ideas or to punish those who decline to express different views. Political and cultural winds shift, but the freedom to speak without fear of censorship is a God-given constitutionally guaranteed right, essential for a flourishing society and self-government people.”
Photo Courtesy of Alliance Defending Freedom