Free Speech Victory in Wisconsin: How a Photographer Won Against City, State Laws
Amy Lawson is a Christian photographer who owned her own studio in Madison, Wisconsin. But Amy isn’t just a photographer; she’s a storyteller who has spent much of her life capturing beautiful moments on camera and sharing stories on her blog.
Many of the stories Amy has shared through her photos and writings reflect her Christian beliefs, including her beliefs about the sanctity of marriage. Amy’s Christian faith has always undergirded her work, which means that there are also certain messages that she cannot express.
But both a city ordinance and a state law threatened Amy’s freedom to choose the messages she expresses.
A pair of laws threatening free speech
Through her business, Amy Lynn Photography Studio, Amy offered visual storytelling services to clients on a commission basis. In addition to taking and editing photographs for individuals, events, and organizations, Amy would post those photographs on her studio’s blog and social media channels. She would also write comments praising and celebrating each client’s activity or event.
Because of her religious beliefs about marriage and the sanctity of life, Amy offered images that promote marriage between a man and a woman, the sanctity of life, and organizations that uphold these views.
To make clear to prospective customers that she could not promote same-sex weddings through her photography and words, Amy put a statement on her website in 2016 saying she wouldn’t photograph these events. One of Amy’s wedding clients objected and said she wouldn’t use Amy because of Amy’s beliefs about marriage. That event, along with the news reports of Christians being sued for not promoting same-sex marriage, caused Amy to take down the website statement for fear it might violate the law.
Amy’s fears were justified. By its terms, Madison’s law made it illegal for public accommodations to deny “equal enjoyment” because of someone’s sexual orientation or political beliefs or to publish “any communication” that denies facilities or that conveys a person’s patronage is “unwelcome, objectionable or unacceptable” because of someone’s sexual orientation or political beliefs.
These laws should not have affected Amy Lynn Photography Studio. Amy served everyone; she just couldn’t express every message. But Amy feared that Madison and Wisconsin would interpret their laws as government officials in other jurisdictions had—to compel her speech.
Severe penalties for following your beliefs
The implications of the city and state laws were twofold:
- Amy would have to create photographs and blog posts promoting same-sex marriage and pro-abortion groups because she created photographs and blog posts promoting opposite-sex marriage and pro-life groups.
- Amy could not publish a statement on the studio’s website explaining her beliefs about opposite-sex marriage or abortion or explaining why the studio could not create photographs and posts promoting same-sex marriage or abortion.
The penalties for violating these laws were severe. If Amy were to violate the Madison law, she could be punished with an injunction, out-of-pocket expenses, economic and noneconomic damages, costs, attorneys’ fees, and a civil fine up to $500 per day.
If Amy were to violate the Wisconsin law, she could be punished with out-of-pocket expenses, costs, attorneys’ fees, cease and desist orders, re-education training, revocation of her business license, and a fine up to $1000 for first time violators and up to $10,000 for repeat violators.
Amy couldn’t comply with the laws. Creating photographs and blog posts promoting same-sex marriage and pro-abortion groups violates her artistic, religious, and political beliefs. Amy also couldn’t comply with the law because she wanted to explain her religious and political beliefs about marriage and the sanctity of life on her studio’s website.
Left with no viable option and seeing lawsuits against other photographers and artists across the country, Amy—represented by Alliance Defending Freedom—filed a pre-enforcement challenge against these laws.
In August 2017, after the city and state officials backed down and agreed not to apply their laws against Amy’s business, the Wisconsin District Court for Dane County issued two declaratory judgments stating that neither Madison’s law nor Wisconsin’s law applied to Amy and her business, and therefore neither law stopped Amy from operating her business in accordance with her faith.
Using these laws to threaten free speech had always been indefensible, and now Amy was finally free to express only messages consistent with her beliefs.
Amy Lynn Photography Studio v. City of Madison
- March 2017: ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit against state officials and Madison on Amy Lawson’s behalf.
- August 2017: A county circuit court issued an order declaring that Amy and her business were not subject to the state and city laws at issue in the case.