10th Circuit chills Colorado counselors' speech

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Cody Barnett regarding a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit Thursday in Chiles v. Salazar to uphold Colorado’s Counseling Censorship Law. The court reasoned that a counseling session transforms speech into conduct that is not protected by the First Amendment. ADF attorneys represent Kaley Chiles, a licensed professional counselor in Colorado, who helps clients with various issues—including gender identity and sexual orientation:

“Counseling is speech, not conduct, and it must be treated as such under the First Amendment. The government has no business censoring private conversations between clients and counselors, nor should a counselor be used as a tool to impose the government’s biased views on her clients. In a similar case that the U.S. Supreme Court denied hearing, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in his dissent that these types of laws are ‘viewpoint-based and content-based discrimination in its purest form.’ We will consider all options to stop the unlawful attempt of Colorado officials to ban someone’s speech simply because they disagree with the viewpoints expressed. All Americans should be allowed to speak freely and seek the best possible help they desire.”

Colorado’s Counseling Censorship Law violates Chiles’ freedom of speech and infringes on her free exercise of religion and that of her clients by censoring and prohibiting certain private client-counselor conversations regarding sexual orientation and gender identity that the government disfavors while allowing—even encouraging—conversations the government favors.

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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