Last month a Kentucky city learned a costly lesson about the First Amendment.
Our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom report Louisville has agreed to pay $800,000 in attorneys’ fees after a federal court ruled the city violated the constitutional rights of Christian photographer Chelsey Nelson. Louisville’s “Fairness Ordinance” tried to force Nelson to photograph same-sex weddings and prohibited her from explaining her religious beliefs about marriage on her own studio’s website. The court said no — and now the city is paying for it.
We have written before about Christian photographers, bakers, florists, and wedding chapel owners being dragged into court because they declined to take part in same-sex weddings or ceremonies. Time and again, courts have had to remind government officials that the First Amendment means what it says.
Nelson’s victory builds on the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2023 ruling in 303 Creative v. Elenis, which held that the government cannot force artists to create speech they disagree with. The government cannot compel Americans to say things they don’t believe — and it certainly cannot punish them for saying what they do believe.
People should be free to live and operate according to their deeply held religious convictions.
Arkansas has enacted some of the best protections for religious freedom in the country. But cases like Chelsey Nelson’s are a reminder that those protections must be defended — in court if necessary. We are grateful for organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom that are willing to fight for them.
Louisville’s $800,000 bill proves that violating the Constitution is an expensive mistake.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
