Supreme court

SEATTLE — A florist who refused to sell flowers for a same-sex wedding cannot claim religious belief as a defense under the state’s anti-discrimination laws, Washington’s high court said Thursday, in a case that has been watched around the nation by religious and civil rights groups. The unanimous ruling by the nine-member state Supreme Court, which a lawyer for the florist said would be appealed to the United States Supreme Court, addressed sweeping questions about public accommodation, artistic expression and free speech. But at its heart was a very human story about Arlene’s Flowers in the small city of Richland, in southeast Washington, and what happened there in 2013 when Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed started planning their wedding. The shop’s owner, Barronelle Stutzman, knew that Mr. Ingersoll and Mr. Freed were gay and had sold them flowers for years, but then refused to provide flowers for their wedding. Her Christian faith, which defined marriage as between a man and … [Read more...] about Florist Discriminated Against Gay Couple, Washington State Supreme Court Rules

A series of recent events at the Supreme Court threatens to undermine trust and confidence in the institution and demonstrates the need for it to have a code of ethics and for better oversight within the judiciary. In May, in what Chief Justice John Roberts called a “betrayal” and an “egregious breach of … trust,” a draft of the Dobbs opinion overruling Roe v. Wade was leaked. More recently, The New York Times reported that the results of a 2014 Supreme Court decision may also have been leaked. And Justice Clarence Thomas’s decision not to recuse himself, without any explanation, in rulings related to his wife’s actions has raised additional concerns. These incidents and how the Court polices itself—or fails to police itself—place the public’s confidence in the judiciary at further risk. Trust in the Supreme Court has recently plummeted to historic lows . According to a Gallup poll this past summer, only 25 percent of U.S. adults say they have “a great deal” or “quite … [Read more...] about The Supreme Court Needs Real Oversight

WASHINGTON — The next frontier in First Amendment law at the Supreme Court involves a trademark dispute over a chew toy for dogs shaped like a liquor bottle. The justices agreed last month to decide the fate of the Bad Spaniels Silly Squeaker dog toy, which looks a lot like a bottle of Jack Daniel’s but with, as an appeals court judge put it , “lighthearted, dog-related alterations.” The jokes are scatological. The words “Old No. 7 Brand Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey” on the bottle are replaced on the toy by “the Old No. 2, on your Tennessee carpet.” Where Jack Daniel’s says its product is 40 percent alcohol by volume, Bad Spaniels’s is said to be “43 percent poo.” A tag attached to the toy says it is “not affiliated with Jack Daniel Distillery.” Trademark cases generally turn on whether the public is likely to be confused about a product’s source. In the Bad Spaniels case, a unanimous three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, said the … [Read more...] about May ‘Bad Spaniels’ Mock Jack Daniel’s? The Supreme Court Will Decide.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Monday over whether a graphic designer in Colorado has a First Amendment right to refuse to create websites celebrating same-sex weddings based on her Christian faith despite a state law that forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation. The case, a sequel to one from 2018 involving a Colorado baker that failed to yield a definitive ruling, is likely to settle the question of whether businesses open to the public and engaged in expression can refuse to provide services to potential customers based on their religious or other convictions. The case concerns Lorie Smith, who owns a design company that says it serves gay customers but intends to limit a proposed wedding-related service to celebrations of heterosexual unions. She argued that requiring her to provide those services to gay and lesbian couples violates her right to free speech. “If a client who identifies as gay asked her to design graphics for his animal … [Read more...] about Supreme Court to Hear Case of Web Designer Opposed to Same-Sex Marriage

Over the past six months, the United States Supreme Court has handed down one misguided ruling after another, stripping Americans of the constitutional right to an abortion, curtailing the regulation of guns and industrial emissions, and muddying the divide between church and state. The people have protested. They’ve organized. And in 2022, they voted. In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the June decision on abortion, the majority wrote that “women are not without electoral or political power.” That’s one thing they got right, and Republicans found that out the hard way in the November midterm elections that they expected to win big. Now, however, the very ability to exercise electoral and political power at the ballot box is hanging in the balance in a case the court is scheduled to hear on Wednesday. Moore v. Harper is a case from North Carolina that state and national Republicans are using to push an extreme legal premise known as the “independent state … [Read more...] about North Carolina’s Governor Says a Fringe Claim Before the Supreme Court Would Upend Democracy

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch posed a question on Monday about Scientology while hearing oral arguments in a crucial gay rights case . The Court heard oral arguments Monday in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, a case about whether Colorado's anti-discrimination laws can compel a Christian web designer to create websites for same-sex couples' weddings despite her believing that her religion would prevent her from doing so. Lorie Smith, the designer, believes the law is violating her right to free speech, as she believes marriage can be "only between one man and one woman." Critics say that a ruling in her favor would result in a reversal of civil rights rules that protect marginalized populations. The case will serve as a test as to whether or not anti-discrimination laws will apply to expressive products that are considered "art." Gorsuch—seen as a conservative justice appointed by former President Donald Trump —questioned how Smith's case is different from … [Read more...] about Supreme Court gay rights case sparks question about Scientology

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday deferred hearing in a batch of petitions pertaining to the recognition of same-sex marriage in India, noting that similar petitions are pending before the Supreme Court. A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad deferred the hearing to April 24, 2023. The bench was hearing a batch of petitions seeking a declaration that the right to legal recognition of same-sex marriages is a fundamental right under Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21 irrespective of a person’s gender, sex, or sexual orientation. The bench was informed on Tuesday that similar petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court and the petitioners herein will also be moving a transfer petition. The petitioners had contended that consensual sexual acts between persons of the same sex have already been decriminalized by the Supreme Court in Navtez Singh Johar’s case. The petitioners have also contended that the right to marry a person of one’s choice as an … [Read more...] about Same Sex Marriage: Delhi HC Defers Hearing to April 2023, Says Similar Pleas Pending Before Supreme Court

WASHINGTON — It is a case “with profound consequences for American democracy,” said J. Michael Luttig, a former federal appeals court judge long a hero to conservatives. Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht of the Texas Supreme Court, a Republican, has said it is “the biggest federalism issue in a long time, maybe ever.” On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Moore v. Harper , a dispute between voting rights advocates and North Carolina’s General Assembly, which is controlled by Republicans, that could drastically increase the power that state legislatures have over voting issues. Just how much power is at issue could become clearer as the arguments play out. But there is no arguing how high the stakes are in this lawsuit. The court is being asked to decide whether state election laws and political maps passed by state legislatures — specifically, a Republican gerrymander of North Carolina’s 14 House seats that the state’s Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional … [Read more...] about Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on Far-Reaching Elections Case

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Wednesday about whether to adopt a legal theory that would radically reshape how federal elections are conducted. The theory would give state legislatures enormous and largely unchecked power to set all sorts of election rules, notably by drawing congressional maps warped by partisan gerrymandering. The Supreme Court has never endorsed the “independent state legislature” theory, but four of its conservative members have issued opinions that seemed to take it very seriously. The theory is based on a reading of the Constitution’s Elections Clause , which says: “The times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof.” Proponents of the strongest form of the theory say this means that no other organ of state government can alter a legislature’s actions on federal elections. They say that state supreme courts cannot require state laws … [Read more...] about Supreme Court to Hear Case That Could Transform Federal Elections

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed prepared on Monday to rule that a graphic designer in Colorado has a free speech right under the First Amendment to refuse to create websites celebrating same-sex weddings because of her Christian faith, despite a state law that forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation. Such a ruling would be the latest in a string of victories for religious people and groups, especially Christian ones, at a court that has shifted to the right in recent years. It would also chip away at the right to same-sex marriage established in 2015, which two current justices have urged their colleagues to reconsider . Several justices leaning in favor of the designer appeared to be searching for limiting principles so as not to upend all sorts of anti-discrimination laws. They explored the differences between businesses engaged in expression and ones simply selling goods. “The case comes down to a fairly narrow question,” … [Read more...] about Supreme Court Seems Ready to Back Web Designer Opposed to Same-Sex Marriage