by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
(Worthy News) – Louisville, Kentucky has agreed to pay $800,000 in attorney’s fees to Christian photographer Chelsey Nelson following her legal victory over the city’s public accommodations law, which had required her to photograph same-sex weddings if she offered services for traditional marriages.
The settlement, reached Tuesday, comes more than three years after a federal court ruled that the First Amendment protects Nelson from being compelled to create content that conflicts with her religious beliefs. The court also barred the city from enforcing policies that would either force her to promote messages she disagrees with or prevent her from expressing her views.
Nelson had challenged the ordinance, arguing it not only compelled her artistic expression but also censored her from explaining her convictions to potential clients. The court ultimately granted summary judgment in her favor six months ago, solidifying her legal victory.
The case preceded the U.S. Supreme Court’s 303 Creative decision, which affirmed that creative professionals cannot be forced by the government to participate in speech that violates their conscience.
“The government cannot force Americans to say things they don’t believe,” said Bryan Neihart, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, who represented Nelson. He added that city officials had spent years attempting to compel Nelson to promote views on marriage that conflicted with her faith.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is preparing for the possibility that an emerging U.S.-Iran agreement could pressure Jerusalem to limit its military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, even as Israeli leaders insist the country must retain freedom of action against threats along its northern border.
Ukraine’s Pentecost Sunday was overshadowed by mourning after Russia used its hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile in one of the heaviest assaults on Kyiv and surrounding regions since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, killing at least four people and injuring about 100 others, officials said Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that President Donald Trump agreed any final agreement with Iran must dismantle Tehran’s nuclear enrichment sites and remove enriched nuclear material from Iranian territory, as Israeli defense officials voiced growing alarm over the emerging U.S.-backed diplomatic framework.
Iran has denied agreeing to surrender any of its enriched uranium stockpile under a proposed U.S.-brokered ceasefire framework, raising fresh questions over whether a broader peace deal can survive its most difficult issues: Tehran’s nuclear program, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran’s continued support for Hezbollah.
President Donald Trump said Sunday that his administration is in “no hurry” to finalize an end-of-war agreement with Iran, signaling caution after earlier indications that Washington and Tehran were nearing a framework deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and preserve a fragile cease-fire.
More than half of the federal budget will go toward benefits for Americans 65 years and older by 2036, and that percentage is set to only grow, a recent congressional report finds.
Two people were shot, including the suspected gunman, in a shooting outside the White House Saturday night.