Judge Frank Geraci, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York on Monday ruled that Christian photographer Emilee Carpenter of the upstate New York-based Emilee Carpenter Photography must accommodate same-sex couples who seek her services despite her strong religious beliefs that do not support gay marriage.
The judge rejected the Christian photographer's request for a preliminary injunction against New York's anti-discrimination law.
The Christian Post reported that on Judge Geraci, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, ruled on Monday that New York has a "compelling interest" to ensure its citizens "have equal access to publicly available goods and services" regardless of their sexual orientation and that the Accommodation clause is "narrowly tailored" as applied to Carpenter "to serve that interest."
Judge Geraci wrote in the decision that even if the Accommodation clause "compels speech or expressive association in a manner that implicates [Carpenter's] free-speech and free-association interests, the provision survives strict scrutiny."
He further argued that New York's public accommodation laws are "neutral" and that Carpenter's "as-applied challenge" causes her to "virtually [concede] that the laws are facially neutral." The judge added that Carpenter failed to raise any factual allegations that the anti-discriminatory laws were in fact enacted with a religious or anti-religious motivation.
NBC Chicago reported that Carpenter, who is from Elmira, first filed a federal lawsuit in April, saying that New York's non-discrimination laws forced her to choose betweeen violating her religious beliefs by photographing same-sex weddings and paying fines up to $100,000. She sued New York after she was asked to photograph seven same-sex couples, saying it violated her First and 14th amendment rights.
Carpenter is being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal nonprofit that has won many religious liberty cases at the U.S. Supreme Court over the years. ADF Senior Counsel Jonathan Scruggs condemned Judge Geraci's ruling in a statement and underscored ADF's commitment to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Scruggs declared in a statement that Judge Geraci's decision "continues down a dangerous path of the government compelling artists to speak messages that violate their religious beliefs-or imposing steep fines, closing their businesses, or throwing them in jail."
According to CBN News, ADF said the ruling not only creates a bad precedent, but also leaves Carpenter with "three bad options," which is to either violate the law, violate her religious beliefs, or simply close down her business. ADF's Sarah Kramer argued that these "three bad options" actually "ignore" the U.S. Constitution.
Kramer implored the court to "protect the freedomes of people on both sides of the same-sex marriage issue," especially when so many Americans uphold the same religious beliefs that Carpenter does-that marriage is a sacrament shared between man and woman alone.
According to The Blaze, New York Attorney General Letitia James applauded the court's decision not to protect Christian photographer's religious rights, calling it a "huge victory in our pursuit to ensure that every New Yorker has equal access and equal protections under the law."
