Circuit Judge Alison Nathan, appointed by President Biden, authored the opinion, stating that the lower court must evaluate Carpenter’s free speech claims. The court needs to determine if the law compels Carpenter’s expressive conduct or merely imposes an incidental burden on speech.

Nathan emphasized that the court should reassess Carpenter’s claims in light of the 2023 Supreme Court decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, which ruled that Colorado could not compel a Christian website designer to create websites for same-sex marriages.

“Following 303 Creative, we conclude (as the Defendants also concede) that Carpenter has pled sufficient facts to plausibly allege a free speech claim,” Nathan wrote.

“Carpenter has plausibly stated a compelled speech claim because the Accommodations Clause of New York’s Human Rights Law requires her to extend her photography services to same-sex weddings.” The appeals court panel denied Carpenter’s request for a preliminary injunction to block enforcement of the law against her, opting instead to “remand to the district court to consider the application for preliminary injunctive relief on a developed factual record.”

The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal organization representing Carpenter and the group that argued the 303 Creative case, praised the panel’s decision.

Source: christianpost.com