" Eliminating … ideas is CADA’s very purpose ." Those words from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals about Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act may be some of the most honest but chilling words ever uttered in a federal opinion. The court ruled that a state could not only compel an artist to speak but could prevent that artist from speaking, too. The idea being eliminated in this instance is the view of artist Lorie Smith that marriage is "an institution between one man and one woman." For Smith, it’s an idea grounded in faith, while for her critics, it is grounded in discrimination. Now, her case, 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis , was just accepted by the Supreme Court to determine if that "very purpose" is the very thing that the First Amendment is designed to prevent. Last year, I described the court’s current session as a " train whistle docket " of major cases that are likely to produce significant changes in areas like abortion, gun rights, and race criteria in college admissions . That whistle seems to get louder by the day. Indeed, this docket is a virtual listing of unfinished business for a court majority that may […]
