Daniel Suhr: A stubborn city

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MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Tuesday, October 21st. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

Supreme Court decisions often take time to settle into the lower courts, especially when rulings touch on political and cultural issues. Here’s WORLD Opinions contributor Daniel Suhr on one of those cases.

DANIEL SUHR: Louisville, Kentucky is known for its race for the roses each year at Churchill Downs. But flowers of a different kind are currently getting greater attention. A local ordinance mandates that wedding service providers show up even if they have a religious objection to participating in the event.

The attorneys at the Alliance Defending Freedom sued to put a stop to that sort of coercion of conscience in 2023…when they won a nationwide victory with 303 Creative v. Elenis at the U.S. Supreme Court. But apparently that’s not good enough for the City of Louisville. It asked a federal district court to dismiss a lawsuit by a wedding photographer after the plaintiff moved out of state.

In a comprehensive ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Beaton rejected the city’s request and awarded nominal damages to the photographer. Beaton is a rising star in conservative legal circles nationally. He reminded Louisville that he had ruled in 2022 that the so-called “SOGI” ordinance barring discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity was unconstitutional, a ruling confirmed by the Supreme Court.

Judge Beaton explained that though the plaintiff had moved to Florida, she still maintained her business as a Kentucky company, advertised in Kentucky, and had client relationships in Kentucky leading to potential future business there. In other words, she faced a legitimate prospect of the ordinance’s enforcement against her in the future.

What’s most frustrating in the whole affair is Louisville’s inability to accept the reality that its ordinance is unconstitutional as applied to wedding service providers. Judge Beaton’s opinion notes that—in his words—“now, as then, Louisville maintains that the First Amendment allows it to enforce its law and continues to litigate vigorously against Nelson’s website and photography.” The ordinance “remains on the books,” and any aggrieved citizen can file a complaint under it, starting the machinery of the city’s “human rights” apparatchiks against them. Rather than just taking the loss and moving on, the city seems to have doubled down.

The case reflects deeper problems that remain to be resolved in the wake of 303 Creative. It is a fantastic achievement to protect Christians in the wedding services industry from being forced to celebrate same-sex marriages. However, SOGI laws remain a cudgel used against Christians in other industries and contexts, especially at a time when “gender identity” is a cultural hot button. For example, a SOGI ordinance still could be used to compel businesses to comply with the city’s rules on transgender bathrooms or transgender athletes.

It’s also frustrating to see that other artists have abandoned Christians in their defense of free speech for artistic expression. Last week, a group of over 500 artists, actors, and musicians led by Jane Fonda launched the Committee for the First Amendment to “stand together in defense of our constitutional rights.” Though the Hollywood elite are enthusiastic to show up in defense of late night host Jimmy Kimmel’s misconduct, they are nowhere to be found when it comes to protecting other artists who would be driven out of business by laws like Louisville’s SOGI ordinance.

Finally, Louisville’s recalcitrant attitude is reminiscent of too many U.S. district court judges who are using any tool available to avoid the clear import of U.S. Supreme Court precedent. While Judge Beaton is actually honoring and applying what the Supreme Court has said, many of his colleagues are damaging the rule of law by refusing to apply precedents they don’t like. Similarly, many litigants and attorneys like Louisville cannot acknowledge and accept certain Supreme Court rulings, and so the city tried every procedural maneuver to weasel out of the injunction.

It’s fair game to criticize, challenge, and seek to overturn bad court decisions, but it’s damaging to the rule of law when government officials try to undermine and evade those decisions while they are on the books.

I’m Daniel Suhr.

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