I’m pleased to report that I filed a friend-of-the-court brief, on behalf of the Cato Institute, Dale Carpenter, and myself, arguing that wedding photographers (and other speakers) have a First Amendment right to choose what expression they create, including by choosing not to photograph same-sex commitment ceremonies. All the signers of the brief support same-sex […]
Tag Archives | Elane Photography v. Willock
Your Name In Lights
Or in soybean-based ink. George Will’s column today discusses the Elane Photography case that Eugene has been blogging (and participating in as amicus curiae). The case involves a First Amendment Free Exercise Clause/New Mexico Religious Freedom Restoration Act defense to penalties the New Mexico Human Rights Commission assessed against Christian photographers who refused for religious reasons […]
Seeking New Mexico Local Counsel for a Pro Bono Amicus Brief Before the New Mexico Supreme Court
I’m planning on filing a pro bono amicus brief before the New Mexico Supreme Court, in support of Elane Photography in the Elane Photography v. Willock wedding photographer case. If you are licensed to practice in New Mexico, and might be inclined to help by acting as local counsel, please e-mail me at volokh at […]
New Mexico Supreme Court Will Hear the Elane Photography Case
I’m pleased to say that the New Mexico Supreme Court will hear the Willock v. Elane Photography case, which I’ve blogged about extensively. The court will now decide whether (1) holding a wedding photographer liable for refusing to photograph a same-sex commitment ceremony violates New Mexico’s statutory ban on sexual orientation discrimination, and (2) even […]
Do Religious Freedom Restoration Acts Apply When Courts Enforce Civil Causes of Action?
I blogged earlier today about the New Mexico Court of Appeals decision in Willock v. Elane Photography, which held that a wedding photographer could be held liable for refusing to photograph a same-sex commitment ceremony. I argued that the decision violated the photographer’s First Amendment rights not to create expressive works (such as photographs) that […]
Wedding Photographer May Be Required (on Pain of Legal Liability) to Photograph Same-Sex Commitment Ceremonies
So the New Mexico Court of Appeals held last week in the long-pending Elane Photography v. Willock (N.M. Ct. App. May 31, 2012). The court began by holding that the state law that bans sexual orientation discrimination in places of public accommodation applies to professional wedding photographers’ decisions not to photograph same-sex commitment ceremonies: Such […]
Discrimination Against Nazis in Public Accommodations
By Eugene Volokh on December 16, 2009 5:52 pm in Freedom of Speech, Religious Freedom, Same-Sex Marriage
A commenter suggested that a hypothetical involving a photographer who refuses to photograph a pro-Nazi ceremony was an “absurd example,” apparently because of the absence of statutes that make it illegal to discriminate against Nazis. Most jurisdictions don’t ban discrimination based on political affiliation, but some do. The D.C. antidiscrimination law to which I linked […]
The First Amendment and the Race Discrimination Bogeyman
By Eugene Volokh on December 16, 2009 5:23 pm in Freedom of Speech, Religious Freedom, Same-Sex Marriage
In the most recent discussion of Elane Photography v. Willock, a commenter asked: “Imagine if instead of a gay couple it was an interracial couple. Would you still support Huguenin’s refusal to photograph the wedding? Or what if the couple were parapalegics and she had an ‘aesthetic aversion’ to photographing the disabled?” The question (at […]
Religious Accommodation Statutes and a Right Not To Participate in Same-Sex Weddings
By Eugene Volokh on December 16, 2009 4:44 pm in Freedom of Speech, Religious Freedom, Same-Sex Marriage
New Mexico is one of about two dozen states in which religious objectors are presumptively entitled to religious exemptions from generally applicable laws. (About a dozen states, plus the federal government, provide this protection by statute; the other dozen states provide it as an interpretation of the state constitution’s religious freedom provisions.) Here’s the relevant […]
Compelling Speech by Commercial Photographers, Freelance Writers, Musicians, and So On
By Eugene Volokh on December 16, 2009 4:01 pm in Freedom of Speech, Religious Freedom, Same-Sex Marriage
I just finished reading the New Mexico trial court’s Elane Photography decision, and thought I’d blog a bit about it. Let me begin with the compelled speech question. Elane Photography — a husband-and-wife company in which the wife, Elaine Huguenin, is the head photographer (and I think the only routine photographer) — refused to photograph […]
New Mexico Trial Court Upholds Sanctions Based on Wedding Photographer’s Refusal to Photograph a Same-Sex Wedding Ceremony
By Eugene Volokh on December 16, 2009 3:13 pm in Freedom of Speech, Religious Freedom, Same-Sex Marriage
The case is Elane Photography, LLC v. Willock, and I blogged about it here, when it was being considered by the New Mexico Human Rights Commission. The decision was handed down last Friday, but the opinion wasn’t distributed until yesterday. I hope to blog more about it today, but here’s my analysis from last year: […]