SCOTUS dispatch: justices see speech concerns in conversion therapy ban, but path forward unclear

Chloe Miracle-Rutledge is a JURIST Supreme Court Correspondent and a 2L at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC.

On Tuesday morning, the second day of the Supreme Court’s new term , I went to the United States Supreme Court to attend oral argument for Chiles v. Salazar —a case about a Christian counselor’s First Amendment challenge to Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy for minors. Given the case’s focus on LGBTQ rights and conservative Christian views, I expected crowds outside the Court. Instead, it was strikingly quiet.

The pressroom was sparse, too, allowing me a clear view of all nine justices from the front of the press box. The light turnout was surprising. This case could reshape First Amendment law, yet it seems to have slipped under the public radar—perhaps