Friday SCOTUS II - LGBTQ Web Designer
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Web Designer Can Refuse Work on Same-Sex Wedding Announcements
The Supreme Court sided with a Colorado web designer’s claim that the First Amendment entitles her to refuse commissions for same-sex wedding announcements, providing a victory for religious conservatives still smarting from the court’s 2015 ruling granting marriage equality to gay and lesbian couples.
Lorie Smith, an evangelical Christian who runs 303 Creative, a web-design company in Littleton, Colo., filed suit in 2016 to get a federal court order declaring her business exempt from state antidiscrimination law should any same-sex couple seek her services. A federal appeals court in Denver, like other federal and state courts confronting objectors to same-sex marriage, found no constitutional right to disregard state law requiring that businesses open to the public treat customers equally without regard to sexual orientation.
Writing for the court, Justice Neil Gorsuch said Smith’s First Amendment free-speech rights—in this case, the right to not express a view supportive of same-sex marriage—took priority over a Colorado law forbidding discrimination based on sexual orientation.
“The First Amendment envisions the United States as a rich and complex place where all persons are free to think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands,” he wrote, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
The court’s three liberals dissented, arguing Smith’s actions rather than speech were at issue. “The act of discrimination has never constituted protected expression,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
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The dissent “it’s not speech, it’s actions” is ridiculous.
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The dissent “it’s not speech, it’s actions” is ridiculous.
@LuFins-Dad said in Friday SCOTUS II:
The dissent “it’s not speech, it’s actions” is ridiculous.
Justice Thomas might have some spicy words....
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Actually, it was Gorsuch this time.
It’s a popcorn type of day…
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Actually, it was Gorsuch this time.
It’s a popcorn type of day…
Gorsuch
It is difficult to read the dissent and conclude we are looking at the same case.
The dissent abandons what this court's cases have recognized time and time again: A commitment to speech for only some persons and some messages is no commitment at all.
Today, however, the dissent abandons what this Court’s cases have recognized time and time again: A commitment to speech for only some messages and some persons is no commitment at all. By approving a government’s effort to “[e]liminat[e]” disfavored “ideas,” 6 F. 4th, at 1178, today’s dissent is emblematic of an unfortunate tendency by some to defend First Amendment values only when they find the speaker’s message sympathetic. But “[i]f liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” 6 F. 4th, at 1190 (Tymkovich, C. J., dissenting) (quoting G. Orwell).
"An Orwell reference is not a compliment."
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The Wise Latina:
"A social system of discrimination created an environment in which LGBT people were unsafe. Who could forget the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard? Matthew was targeted by two men, tortured, tied to a buck fence, and left to die for who he was. See K. Drake, Gay Man Beaten, Burned and Left Tied to Fence, Casper Star-Tribune, Oct. 10, 1998, p.A1. Or the Pulse nightclub massacre, the second-deadliest mass shooting in U. S. history? See S. Stolberg, For Gays Across America, a Massacre Punctuates Fitful Gains, N. Y. Times, June 13, 2016, p. A1."
Matthew’s tragedy began long before the night he was killed.
Jimenez found that Matthew was addicted to and dealing crystal meth and had dabbled in heroin. He also took significant sexual risks and was being pimped alongside Aaron McKinney, one of his killers, with whom he’d had occasional sexual encounters. He was HIV positive at the time of his death.In particular, Mateen went to Pulse only after having scouted other venues that night that were wholly unrelated to the LGBT community, only to find that they were too defended by armed guards and police, and ultimately chose Pulse only after a generic Google search for “Orlando nightclubs” — not “gay clubs” — produced Pulse as the first search result.
Several journalists closely covering the Mateen investigation have, for some time now, noted the complete absence of any evidence suggesting that Mateen knew that Pulse was a gay club or that targeting the LGBT community was part of his motive. These doubts have been strongly fortified by the new facts, previously under seal, that were revealed by today’s court filing.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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So between the wise black woman and the wise latina woman, we have four or five demonstrably disingenuous anecdotes that form the foundation of their "constitutional" opinions.
Anybody who thinks the court is politicized in favor of conservatism, dismisses themselves from the realm of serious thinkers on the subject. Until they can produce equal disingenuousness in any conservative justice's written opinions. Which they won't be able to.
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Not that it really matters (I dont think), but the couple that supposedly started the case are probably fake. LOL
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Yes that’s very curious.
It’s worth noting that he didn’t come forward and say “wait…. This isn’t real”, rather, some intrepid reporter contacted him before the case was decided to get his ‘pre-action’ and he’s like ‘What (and I cannot stress this enough) The Fuck?”
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But evidently they knew it wasn’t real over a year ago.
@Jon supposedly he didn’t know his name was even involved. I can see that. Not everybody follows every news story…
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The Wise Latina:
"A social system of discrimination created an environment in which LGBT people were unsafe. Who could forget the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard? Matthew was targeted by two men, tortured, tied to a buck fence, and left to die for who he was. See K. Drake, Gay Man Beaten, Burned and Left Tied to Fence, Casper Star-Tribune, Oct. 10, 1998, p.A1. Or the Pulse nightclub massacre, the second-deadliest mass shooting in U. S. history? See S. Stolberg, For Gays Across America, a Massacre Punctuates Fitful Gains, N. Y. Times, June 13, 2016, p. A1."
Matthew’s tragedy began long before the night he was killed.
Jimenez found that Matthew was addicted to and dealing crystal meth and had dabbled in heroin. He also took significant sexual risks and was being pimped alongside Aaron McKinney, one of his killers, with whom he’d had occasional sexual encounters. He was HIV positive at the time of his death.In particular, Mateen went to Pulse only after having scouted other venues that night that were wholly unrelated to the LGBT community, only to find that they were too defended by armed guards and police, and ultimately chose Pulse only after a generic Google search for “Orlando nightclubs” — not “gay clubs” — produced Pulse as the first search result.
Several journalists closely covering the Mateen investigation have, for some time now, noted the complete absence of any evidence suggesting that Mateen knew that Pulse was a gay club or that targeting the LGBT community was part of his motive. These doubts have been strongly fortified by the new facts, previously under seal, that were revealed by today’s court filing.
@George-K said in Friday SCOTUS II - LGBTQ Web Designer:
The Wise Latina:
"A social system of discrimination created an environment in which LGBT people were unsafe. Who could forget the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard? Matthew was targeted by two men, tortured, tied to a buck fence, and left to die for who he was. See K. Drake, Gay Man Beaten, Burned and Left Tied to Fence, Casper Star-Tribune, Oct. 10, 1998, p.A1. Or the Pulse nightclub massacre, the second-deadliest mass shooting in U. S. history? See S. Stolberg, For Gays Across America, a Massacre Punctuates Fitful Gains, N. Y. Times, June 13, 2016, p. A1."
Matthew’s tragedy began long before the night he was killed.
Jimenez found that Matthew was addicted to and dealing crystal meth and had dabbled in heroin. He also took significant sexual risks and was being pimped alongside Aaron McKinney, one of his killers, with whom he’d had occasional sexual encounters. He was HIV positive at the time of his death.In particular, Mateen went to Pulse only after having scouted other venues that night that were wholly unrelated to the LGBT community, only to find that they were too defended by armed guards and police, and ultimately chose Pulse only after a generic Google search for “Orlando nightclubs” — not “gay clubs” — produced Pulse as the first search result.
Several journalists closely covering the Mateen investigation have, for some time now, noted the complete absence of any evidence suggesting that Mateen knew that Pulse was a gay club or that targeting the LGBT community was part of his motive. These doubts have been strongly fortified by the new facts, previously under seal, that were revealed by today’s court filing.
Damn…
WASHINGTON, D.C — In a stunning display of determination and perseverance, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has shown the world that illiteracy is no match for ambition and dreams. Justice Sotomayor has defied the odds and reached the pinnacle of her profession, all without being able to read a single word.
"I just hope that my story can be used to inspire other little girls out there who can't read," said Justice Sotomayor with a tear in her eye. "Just because you can't make it through 'Hop On Pop' doesn't mean there's not a place for you on the highest court in the land."Though naysayers tried to tell Ms. Sotomayor that being a judge required some degree of literacy, she refused to take "no" for an answer. "I never let the doubters hold me down," said Ms. Sotomayor. "They said I'd never be a judge without being able to read what the law says. Well, guess what? I can't even read the menu at Starbucks, much less the Constitution - but here I am, banging a gavel on the highest Court in America. Reach for the stars!"
Other lawyers have called her complete lack of knowledge a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stuffy profession. "You see this woman having her dissent delayed because she accidentally glued her hands together, and it just makes her so approachable," said attorney Ken Tarleton. "Her story gives people hope. I have a blind nephew who says she has given him the inspiration to become a surgeon. Incredible stuff."
At publishing time, Justice Thomas had graciously purchased Ms. Sotomayor the complete set of "Hooked On Phonics".
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The Democrat playbook of putting disingenuous and downright dumb females of color into positions of power, probably does a lot to propagate racism and sexism. It’s sad because there are plenty of reasonable females of color. They’re just not the ones the left promotes.
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Mic drop
