(WND News Center)—A federal court has ruled in favor of free speech in a fight that was created by an attack by the city of Louisville, Kentucky, on a local photographer.
The city had decided to impose its religious viewpoint and ordered the photographer, Chelsey Nelson, to use her artistic talents to promote anti-Christian same-sex wedding ceremonies “if she photographers and blogs about weddings between one man and one woman,” the biblical standard.
Leftist city officials even had tried to order her to be silent on such issues, claiming that they could forbid her and her studio from explaining to clients and potential clients her beliefs.
The ADF, representing Nelson, called the ruling from the federal court in Kentucky a “victory” for free speech.
Louisville, under the ruling, now will be held accountable for violating the First Amendment.
“Free speech is for everyone. As the U.S. Supreme Court held two years ago in 303 Creative v. Elenis, Americans have the freedom to express and create messages that align with their beliefs without fear of government punishment,” said her lawyer, Bryan Neihart. “For over five years, Louisville officials said they could force Chelsey to promote views about marriage that violated her religious beliefs. But the First Amendment leaves decisions about what to say with the people, not the government.
“The district court’s decisions rests on this bedrock First Amendment principle and builds on the victory in 303 Creative.”
That was an earlier case where Colorado officials tried the same leftist stunt, and failed. They claimed that the web designer behind 303 Creative could be forced to promote LGBT ceremonies if she did websites for weddings that followed the Christian model of one man and one woman.
Colorado repeatedly has launched state attacks on the Christian faith, including its years-long campaign against Jack Phillips, of Masterpiece Cakeshop, who refused to submit to leftist religious beliefs promoted by the government of Democrat Gov. Jared Polis, a homosexual, and promote LGBT weddings with his cake artistry
When the state lost that fight at the Supreme Court, the justices scolded the leftist state for its “hostility” to Christians. Subsequently, its taxpayers have been forced to hand over millions of dollars to cover the damages from the state’s losing cases.
“The government can’t force Americans to say things they don’t believe, and state officials have paid and will continue to pay a price when they violate this foundational freedom,” Nelson said. “The freedom to speak without fear of censorship is a God-given constitutionally guaranteed right.”
The case went to court in 2019 “because Louisville’s law prohibited Nelson from expressing her views on marriage on her studio’s website and threatened to compel her to create photographs and blogs celebrating a message about marriage she does not believe,” the lawyers explained.
“The district court kept a permanent bar in place that prevents Louisville from enforcing its law against Nelson in this way. The court also ordered Louisville to pay Nelson nominal damages for restricting her speech. Nominal damages are a type of compensation that remedy past harm, prevent future misconduct, and vindicate constitutional freedoms,” the ADF reported.
The court earlier had ruled that the First Amendment protects Nelson’s freedom to create photographs and blog postings promoting her own religious faith about marriage.
The city had taken its fight to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.
“While the case was on appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court decided 303 Creative v. Elenis, a monumental decision that held that government officials cannot force artists to create speech they disagree with. The Sixth Circuit returned the case to the district court after 303 Creative and other developments but otherwise kept the decision ‘in place,’” the ADF explained.
Now the district court has affirmed its original decision.
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