Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall Friday hailed a U.S. Supreme Court ruling siding with a Christian designer who declined to produce websites for same-sex weddings. The court ruled 6-3 that Lorie Smith of Colorado has the right under the First Amendment to refuse to endorse messages with which she disagrees. The state of Colorado had sought to force Smith to comply, or face prosecution. Smith alleged that the law violated her First Amendment rights, and the Supreme Court agreed. “The Constitution and our First Amendment prevail. All Americans enjoy the right to freedom of conscience, and that freedom means the government cannot coerce anyone to speak against their deeply held beliefs,” said Attorney General Marshall. “Today’s decision confirms that state and local government are not ‘immune to the demands of the Constitution.’” Marshall joined a 20 state friend-of-the-court brief urging the Supreme Court to protect the First Amendment rights of business owners.
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