The Supreme Court Will Rule in the Clash of Religious Vs. Gay Rights

 

GAY RIGHTS 

A clash of gay rights and religious rights is also yet to be decided by the court. The case involves a Christian graphic artist from Colorado who wants to begin designing wedding websites but objects to making wedding websites for same-sex couples. 

State law requires businesses that are open to the public to provide services to all customers, but the designer, Lorie Smith, says the law violates her free speech rights. 

She says ruling against her would force artists — from painters and photographers to writers and musicians — to do work that is against their beliefs. Her opponents, meanwhile, say that if she wins, a range of businesses will be able to discriminate, refusing to serve Black, Jewish or Muslim customers, interracial or interfaith couples or immigrants. 

During arguments in the case in December, the court's conservative majority sounded sympathetic to Smith's arguments, and religious plaintiffs have in recent years won a series of victories at the high court. 

RELIGIOUS RIGHTS 

Another case that could end as a victory for religious rights is the case of a Christian mail carrier who refused to work on Sundays when he was required to deliver Amazon packages. 

The question for the high court has to do with when businesses have to accommodate religious employees. The case is somewhat unusual in that both sides agree on several things, and when the court heard arguments in April both liberal and conservative justices seemed in broad agreement that businesses like the Postal Service can’t cite minor costs or hardships to reject requests to accommodate religious practices. That could mean a ruling joined by both liberals and conservatives. 

Less clear, however, was how the justices might decide the particular worker's case. 

VOTING 

As election season accelerates, the Supreme Court has still not said what it will do in a case about the power of state legislatures to make rules for congressional and presidential elections without being checked by state courts. 

In a case out of North Carolina, the justices were asked to essentially eliminate the power of state courts to strike down congressional districts drawn by legislatures on the grounds that they violate state constitutions. 

But there's a wrinkle. Since the justices heard arguments in the case in December, North Carolina's state Supreme Court threw out the ruling the Supreme Court was reviewing after Republicans claimed control of that court. That could give the justices an out and let them dismiss the case without reaching a decision. 

The high court could still take up a similar case from Ohio and reach a decision there, but it wouldn't be until after the 2024 elections.