AG Skrmetti Joins Amicus Brief Urging Sixth Circuit to Protect Religious Liberty Rights, Free Speech of Louisville Wedding Photographer
Nashville-Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined a coalition of twenty states in filing an amicus brief before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit supporting the religious liberty and free speech of a Louisville wedding photographer. The photographer declined to take custom photographs at a same-sex wedding.
The photographer has asked the Sixth Circuit to uphold a federal district judge’s ruling that protected her religious liberty and free speech rights by preventing Louisville from requiring the photographer to provide services at a same-sex wedding.
In the amicus brief, the coalition argues that in this case, Louisville’s public-accommodation ordinance violates the photographer’s rights under the Free Speech Clause and Kentucky’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The coalition writes, “Both the Free Speech Clause and Kentucky’s RFRA apply. That means Louisville’s public-accommodation law must give way here. Louisville cannot force Nelson [the photographer] to take custom wedding photos for a same-sex wedding that send a message she disagrees with based on her religious beliefs.”
General Skrmetti joined the brief in partnership with attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia in filing the brief.
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