Appeals court rules NY anti-discrimination law does not violate wedding photographer’s constitutional rights

MANHATTAN (CN) — The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a mixed decision Friday that New York public accommodation laws do not violate the religious freedom and free association rights of a wedding photographer who feared prosecution for turning away same-sex clients.

Emilee Carpenter, who is based in western New York’s Chemung County, filed a civil faith-based challenge seeking an exemption from an accommodations clause of New York’s Human Rights Law, calling it unconstitutional to make her choose between a penalty of up to $100,000 or photographing same-sex weddings that go against her religious beliefs.

“Following the Supreme Court’s decision in 303 Creative , we agree with defendants’ concession that Carpenter’s complaint states a claim that New York’s public accommodations laws compel her to speak in violation of the First Amendment,” U.S. Circuit Judge Alison Nathan in the panel’s 56-page opinion.

“However, in light of 303 Creative ’s fact-intensive First Amendment analysis, we deny Carpenter’s request for entry of a preliminary injunction and instead remand to the district court for determination on a factual record,” wrote Nathan, a Biden appointee.

Carpenter’s attorney Bryan Neihart said in statement that he hopes the lower court will affirm her free speech claim on remand.

“We urge the district court to uphold this freedom and follow Supreme Court precedent so that Emilee can speak and create consistent with her conviction,” the Alliance Defending Freedom lawyer said Monday.  “That freedom protects Emilee and all Americans regardless of their views.”

The Second Circuit received Carpenter’s free speech claim after a federal court dismissed her lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci tossed out the claims in December 2021, emphasizing that working at a gay wedding is not the same thing as participating in or celebrating the ceremony.

On appeal, Carpenter challenged each dismissal and sought an order directing the lower court to enter a preliminary injunction.

Attorneys for the state of New York argued on appeal that the state’s public accommodations laws do not violate the First Amendment and play a critical role in ensuring that gay and lesbian individuals are protected from the “dignitary harm” of being excluded from businesses that are purportedly open to the public.

The three-judge panel declined Carpenter’s injunction request and instead remanded the case to the Western District of York to evaluate her free speech claims “based on a more developed record.”

The panel affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of Carpenter’s claims that New York’s public accommodations laws violate her First Amendment rights to free association and free exercise of religion; violate the establishment clause; or are unconstitutionally vague.

Nathan, the second openly LGBTQ+ woman to serve on a federal appellate court after Judge Beth Robinson, was joined on the panel by U.S. Circuit Judges Joseph Bianco, a Trump appointee, and Susan Carney, an Obama appointee.

Carpenter’s attorneys at the Alliance Defending Freedom have spearheaded a number of legal cases on gay and transgender issues, including the Masterpiece Cakeshop case that the Supreme Court decided in 2018 and the aforementioned 303 Creative case, in which the high court’s current conservative supermajority ruled a Christian website designer should not be forced to serve same-sex couples.

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