Emilee Carpenter questions obligation to attend same-sex weddings
Last Friday, the justices ruled that Carpenter’s lawsuit over New York’s public accommodations law could proceed. Circuit Judge Alison Nathan, a Biden appointee, said the lower court must consider Carpenter’s free speech claims “to determine whether the application of the law at issue actually compels Carpenter’s expressive conduct, as opposed to non-expressive conduct that imposes an incidental burden on speech.”
Nathan asked the court to reconsider Carpenter’s claims in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis. In that decision, the high court ruled 6-3 that the state of Colorado could not force a Christian website designer to create websites celebrating same-sex marriages.
“Following the decision in 303 Creative, we conclude (as Defendants also concede) that Carpenter has alleged sufficient facts to plausibly assert a free speech claim,” Nathan wrote. “Carpenter plausibly asserted a compelled speech claim because the Accommodations Clause of the New York Human Rights Law requires her to extend her photography services to same-sex weddings.”
Although the appeals court panel denied Carpenter’s request for a preliminary injunction to block enforcement of the law against her, it decided to “remand to the district court to consider the motion for preliminary injunctive relief based on a developed factual record.”
By Ezatamentchy
Source: Maxima
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