Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/21-476_c185.pdf
Page Number: 1.0

(Slip Opinion) 

OCTOBER  TERM,  2022 

1 

Syllabus 

NOTE:  Where  it  is  feasible,  a  syllabus  (headnote)  will  be  released,  as  is 
being  done  in  connection  with  this  case,  at  the  time  the  opinion  is  issued. 
The  syllabus  constitutes  no  part  of  the  opinion  of  the  Court  but  has  been 
prepared  by  the  Reporter  of  Decisions  for  the  convenience  of  the  reader. 
See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

Syllabus 

303 CREATIVE LLC ET AL. v. ELENIS ET AL. 

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR 
THE TENTH CIRCUIT 

No. 21–476.  Argued December 5, 2022—Decided June 30, 2023 

Lorie Smith wants to expand her graphic design business, 303 Creative 
LLC,  to  include  services  for  couples  seeking  wedding  websites.    But 
Ms. Smith worries that Colorado will use the Colorado Anti-Discrimi-
nation Act to compel her—in violation of the First Amendment—to cre-
ate  websites  celebrating  marriages  she  does  not  endorse.    To  clarify 
her rights, Ms. Smith filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to prevent
the  State  from  forcing  her  to  create  websites  celebrating  marriages 
that  defy  her  belief  that  marriage  should  be  reserved  to  unions  be-
tween one man and one woman. 

CADA prohibits all “public accommodations” from denying “the full
and equal enjoyment” of its goods and services to any customer based
on  his  race,  creed,  disability,  sexual  orientation,  or  other  statutorily 
enumerated trait.  Colo. Rev. Stat. §24–34–601(2)(a).  The law defines 
“public accommodation” broadly to include almost every public-facing
business in the State.  §24–34–601(1).  Either state officials or private 
citizens  may  bring  actions  to  enforce  the  law.    §§24–34–306,  24–34– 
602(1).  And a variety of penalties can follow any violation.

Before  the  district  court,  Ms.  Smith  and  the  State  stipulated  to  a 
number of facts:  Ms. Smith is “willing to work with all people regard-
less of classifications such as race, creed, sexual orientation, and gen-
der” and “will gladly create custom graphics and websites” for clients
of  any  sexual  orientation;  she  will  not  produce  content  that  “contra-
dicts biblical truth” regardless of who orders it; Ms. Smith’s belief that 
marriage is a union between one man and one woman is a sincerely 
held conviction; Ms. Smith provides design services that are “expres-
sive” and her “original, customized” creations “contribut[e] to the over-
all  message”  her  business  conveys  “through  the  websites”  it  creates;
the wedding websites she plans to create “will be expressive in nature,”