As your Attorney General, a former Supreme Court law clerk, and a lawyer committed to the rule of law and defending our constitutional rights, it's clear to me that the Supreme Court got it wrong in several recent impactful decisions.
One of those cases was 303 Creative v. Elenis, a case we defended at the Court. Like the Court’s Dobbs decision that overruled Roe v. Wade, this decision threatens to take us backwards–in this case, on equality and civil rights.
In 303 Creative, the Court recognized–for the first time since the Civil Rights Act of 1964–a constitutional right to discriminate against a protected class, under the guise of freedom of expression. This decision was based on a hypothetical claim by a website designer that her expressive interest in what she sold meant she could refuse to serve same-sex couples. The Court’s conclusion and reasoning in this case undermines the longstanding requirement imposed on all businesses that they must serve everyone in the public marketplace as equals; under the Court’s newly created loophole, the door is now open to discrimination under the guise of a seller’s expressive interest in its product or service.
As I explained in my reaction to the decision on MSNBC, we are committed to limiting the impact of this ruling and advancing the principle that Colorado businesses serve everyone, no matter who they love, their race, gender, religion, or background. As we continue to defend civil rights, we will redouble our efforts to protect the vulnerable among us and champion a community that welcomes everyone.
