Knapp v. City of Coeur d'Alene

In 2013, the city of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, passed an ordinance adding sexual orientation and gender identity to its public-accommodation law. For months, city officials told Donald Knapp that he and his wife, Evelyn, both ordained ministers who ran the Hitching Post Wedding Chapel, would be required to perform same-sex ceremonies or violate a city law that threatened them with months in jail and thousands of dollars in fines. After the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit overturned Idaho’s voter-approved constitutional amendment that affirmed marriage as the union of a man and a woman, the Knapps even closed the Hitching Post for several days out of fear of being prosecuted.

Just one day after they reopened, the couple received a request to officiate a same-sex wedding ceremony. They politely declined and quickly filed a pre-enforcement challenge against the city ordinance that threatened them. The lawsuit and accompanying public outcry caused the city to back down and promise not to enforce its law against the Knapps.

ADF eventually secured a judgment against the city for the time the Hitching Post was closed and had lost income. And based on the city’s promise that it would not enforce the ordinance against the Hitching Post going forward, the rest of the lawsuit was dismissed. Because of their lawsuit, the Knapps were thus free to speak and operate their business consistent with their religious beliefs going forward.

Case Timeline

• June 2013: Coeur d’Alene passed an ordinance amending its public-accommodation law to include sexual orientation and gender identity in its list of protected characteristics.
• Oct. 7, 2014: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld a district court ruling invalidating Idaho’s laws affirming marriage, requiring marriage licenses to be issued to same-sex couples. For fear of being punished by the city ordinance, the Knapps temporarily closed the Hitching Post until Oct. 16.
• Oct. 10, 2014: The U.S. Supreme Court denied an application to stay the 9th Circuit order.
• Oct. 13, 2014: The 9th Circuit ordered Idaho to begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses as of Oct. 15, based on its Oct. 7 ruling.
• Oct. 17, 2014: The Knapps politely declined a request to perform a same-sex wedding ceremony, potentially subjecting them to jail time and fines. That same day, ADF filed a federal lawsuit and a motion for a temporary restraining order to stop the officials in Coeur d’Alene from enforcing its public-accommodation law against the Knapps.
• Oct. 20, 2014: City officials sent a letter saying that ordained ministers operating a for-profit wedding chapel are in violation of the city ordinance for declining to marry same-sex couples.
• Oct. 23, 2014: City officials sent a second letter “clarifying” that the Hitching Post would not be prosecuted under the ordinance.
• March 2016: A federal court issued a motion-to-dismiss decision allowing part of the Knapps’ pre-enforcement lawsuit to proceed.
• May 2016: ADF secured a judgment to compensate the Knapps for some of the time they remained closed. Based on the city’s promise that it would not enforce the ordinance against the Hitching Post, the rest of the lawsuit was dismissed.