The Liberty Justice Center has filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to protect the First Amendment rights of therapists by striking down a Colorado law that restricts the free speech of mental health professionals.
In 2019, licensed professional counselor Kaley Chiles filed a lawsuit challenging Colorado’s Mental Health Practice Act, which prohibits licensed mental health professionals from offering professional counseling if the therapist expresses views on sexual orientation or gender identity that the state disapproves of. Chiles and her lawyers argue that this law infringes on therapists’ First Amendment rights by discriminating against speech based on that speech’s content and viewpoint.
After her lawsuit was dismissed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, Chiles filed an appeal asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up her case. The Liberty Justice Center filed an amicus brief in support of that petition, which the Court granted on March 10, 2025.
On June 13, the Liberty Justice Center filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Chiles’s lawsuit, arguing that the Court should reverse the Tenth Circuit Court’s ruling and find that Colorado’s Mental Health Practice Act violates mental health professionals’ First Amendment rights.
“By attempting to regulate therapists’ speech, Colorado’s Mental Health Practice Act explicitly and undeniably infringes on their First Amendment rights,” said Reilly Stephens, Director of Amicus Practice at the Liberty Justice Center.
The Liberty Justice Center’s amicus briefs in Chiles v. Salazar are available here.