Butcher Baker Website Maker
I was reading through articles concerning the U.S. Supreme Court case, 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, and find the Courts questions to the various sides interesting. To me this is a simple case.
A business has less of a free speech right then an individual. However, what happens when a business is just an individual? If you are in business than, unless you are asked to break a law, your freedom of speech does not apply. Strictly basing the arguments on freedom of speech grounds is a loser, given the examples used by left leaning Justices, a hotel cannot deny entry to same sex couples, people of a specific race, color, religion, or other identity.
Nor should this appellant be allowed to deny having to create a website for a same sex couple based upon her freedom of speech rights. Here freedom of speech is not being infringed upon since she has the right to object to same sex marriages. She can express that as long and as loud as she wants.
Like any business who disagrees with a type of customer, for whatever reason, those business still have to serve those customers in those customers lawful pursuits.
Justice Jackson “wondered whether a photographer seeking to depict Christmas scenes from the film ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ could limit their photography to White children.” The answer is yes, if the photographer in question is shooting the scenes in a private and controlled situation.
Her questions should have been if the photographer could refuse to shoot the scenes if the person hired the photographer wanted to use only Black children, mixed races or whatever, which would have been no, the photographer could not refuse.
The other example brought by Justice Alito used an example of a African-American St. Nick and a child wearing a KKK outfit.
Again, strictly adhering to the Freedom of Speech doctrine, a business open to the public, cannot pick and choose the public it serves and would have to allow the child dressed in a KKK outfit to sit on the Santa's lap (not taking into account other legal ramifications of wearing a KKK outfit).
However, the First Amendment also protects Religious Freedoms and to be free from the public establishment of a Religion.
Whereas a business does not have the right to deny services based upon Freedom of Speech, a business does have the right to deny services based upon Freedom of Religion.
Here, we have a business owner who professes that same-sex marriages are a violation of her religious beliefs.
Like Jack Phillips, the baker before her, a business that creates unique items for specific occasions may refuse to create those items based upon the owners heartfelt religious beliefs. A person creating something, a song writer, a singer, a portrait painter, web designer, baker, etc. they all create something from and with their mind, their individuality.
To force them to create something that goes against their religious beliefs is a fundamental invasion of their individual as to, in essence, create in them a second-class citizen, in servitude to the issue violating their religious beliefs and freedom.
That cannot be allowed.
To be able to deny a customer, the business must base that denial strictly and only on the owner’s religious beliefs that the customer is requesting a custom creation of the business owner that is contrary to those religious beliefs. Since same-sex marriage is wrong under certain religious tenants, it would violate the first amendment to force a person of religion to perform the service. That would be like forcing the pope to perform a same-sex marriage
Anything else and the denial would be unacceptable and discriminatory.
