aGameOfThrones
03-17-2014, 11:45 AM
Later this week, Supreme Court will review a highly publicized case about a New Mexico photographer who refused to shoot a same-sex commitment ceremony. If accepted, the case would be heard in the Court’s next term, starting in October.
The case, Elane Photography v. Willock, received its fair share of publicity during the recent controversy in Arizona over a proposed change to that state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. It will be considered in private conference on March 21, and the Court could announce the case’s fate on March 24.
Republican lawmakers in Arizona decided to pursue SB 1062 after a court in neighboring New Mexico last year in Elane Photography v. Willock, said that a photographer who refused to document a same-sex couple’s commitment ceremony had violated New Mexico’s public accommodations laws.
In briefs filed with the Supreme Court, the key question in the case centers on the photographer’s claim that the New Mexico law creates a conflict with her religious beliefs and violates the First Amendment’s ban on compelled speech.
The case started in 2006, when Vanessa Willock of Albuquerque , N.M., contacted Elane Photography to ask whether the business would take pictures of her commitment ceremony to another woman. Elane Photography said it would only take photos of “traditional weddings,” and turned away the business.
Later, the couple hired a different studio, and the commitment ceremony proceeded. Willock then filed a discrimination complaint under New Mexico law, which protects people against discrimination based on sexual orientation.
http://news.yahoo.com/supreme-court-justices-ponder-mexico-photographer-case-095605809--politics.html
The case, Elane Photography v. Willock, received its fair share of publicity during the recent controversy in Arizona over a proposed change to that state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. It will be considered in private conference on March 21, and the Court could announce the case’s fate on March 24.
Republican lawmakers in Arizona decided to pursue SB 1062 after a court in neighboring New Mexico last year in Elane Photography v. Willock, said that a photographer who refused to document a same-sex couple’s commitment ceremony had violated New Mexico’s public accommodations laws.
In briefs filed with the Supreme Court, the key question in the case centers on the photographer’s claim that the New Mexico law creates a conflict with her religious beliefs and violates the First Amendment’s ban on compelled speech.
The case started in 2006, when Vanessa Willock of Albuquerque , N.M., contacted Elane Photography to ask whether the business would take pictures of her commitment ceremony to another woman. Elane Photography said it would only take photos of “traditional weddings,” and turned away the business.
Later, the couple hired a different studio, and the commitment ceremony proceeded. Willock then filed a discrimination complaint under New Mexico law, which protects people against discrimination based on sexual orientation.
http://news.yahoo.com/supreme-court-justices-ponder-mexico-photographer-case-095605809--politics.html