Attorneys for a Christian photographer in New York say they plan to appeal after a federal judge dismissed her case against the state’s attorney general. In her lawsuit, Emilee Carpenter, owner of an upstate photography business, maintains that New York’s nondiscrimination laws require her to either violate her religious beliefs or risk jail time and steep fines (up to $100,000).
Her legal team had argued: “Just as the government cannot compel a lesbian baker to create a cake condemning same-sex marriage or an atheist playwright to wax positively about God, New York cannot force Emilee to convey messages she objects to.”
Emilee Carpenter’s Case
Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Frank Geraci Jr. dismissed the lawsuit, rejecting Emilee Carpenter’s request for a preliminary injunction against the nondiscrimination law. He writes that “an exemption for Plaintiff’s unique, non-fungible services would necessarily undermine, not serve, the State’s purpose, as it would ‘relegate [same-sex couples] to an inferior market’ than that enjoyed by the public at large.”
Judge Geraci, an appointee of President Obama, indicates that “New York’s public-accommodation laws are neutral.” He wasn’t persuaded by Carpenter, he adds, because she “raises no non-conclusory factual allegations that the laws were enacted with any kind of religious (or anti-religious) motivation.”
ADF Warns of ‘Dangerous Path’
The religious-liberty organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which represents Emilee Carpenter, promptly indicated it will take her case to the U.S. Court of Appeals. About Judge Geraci’s ruling, ADF Senior Counsel Jonathan Scruggs says, “The court’s decision continues down a dangerous path of the government compelling artists to speak messages that violate their religious beliefs—or imposing steep fines, closing their businesses, or throwing them in jail.”
Scruggs compares Carpenter’s case to that of Colorado web designer Lorie Smith, another ADF client. “Artists like Emilee and Lorie…are protected under the Constitution to freely live and work according to their religious beliefs. … [They] happily serve all people; they just cannot promote messages which contradict their religious beliefs, including their views on marriage.”
Calling a July ruling in Smith’s case “Orwellian,” Scruggs adds, “We earnestly hope the Supreme Court will hear Lorie’s case and protect the constitutional freedoms for all Americans, including creative professionals like Lorie and Emilee.”
ADF also represents Colorado baker Jack Phillips, whose refusal to make cakes for same-sex weddings and gender transitions has led to almost a decade of court battles.
