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Court Split Leaves Free-Speech Counselors Facing Big Questions
Liberty Check
- The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 against a restrictive Colorado law.
- Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a solo dissent.
- The decision centers on First Amendment protections for counselors and speech.
The Supreme Court delivered a major win for the First Amendment by ruling 8-1 against a restrictive Colorado law.
This decision ensures that Christian counselors can continue their work without being silenced by state mandates.
Justice Jackson warned of a decline in medical quality, claiming that the majority’s decision ignores established scientific consensus.
Unlike her colleagues, she argued that the state should have the power to regulate specific medical speech based on purported harms.
“Ultimately, because the majority plays with fire in this case, I fear that the people of this country will get burned,”
Justice Elena Kagan challenged Jackson’s interpretation, noting that the First Amendment remains neutral even when the state finds certain viewpoints unpopular.
Kagan emphasized that targeting specific ideas for censorship is a textbook violation of constitutional rights.
“Instead of barring talk therapy designed to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity, this law bars therapy affirming those things. As Ms. Chiles readily acknowledges, the First Amendment would apply in the identical way,”
By upholding the right of counselors to speak freely, the Court has reinforced that the government cannot pick winners and losers in the marketplace of ideas.
Protecting the freedom of speech is essential to preventing a total collapse of individual liberties.
Our freedoms depend on staying vigilant.
