Pac-12 survival: Our forecasts for media rights revenue, network partners and expansion as the saga continues

• June 30, 2023

It has been 360 days since the Pac-12 presidents authorized commissioner George Kliavkoff to “immediately” begin negotiating a media rights deal and 137 since they expressed hope for a resolution “in the very near future.”

Evidently, the presidents think in geologic time, where the “very near future” means sometime this century.

There is still no media deal, no decision on expansion and no hard evidence suggesting the endgame is nigh.

Instead, there are only crumbs, clues and hints that the Pac-12’s existential crisis soon could be coming to a close.

Today, on the anniversary of USC and UCLA announcing their intentions to enter the Big Ten on Aug. 2, 2024, the Hotline presents a summary of the situation and predictions for the outcome.

The survival odds

Our current forecast views Pac-12 survival as a 4-point favorite over Pac-12 extinction, suggesting a 60 percent probability (approximately) that Kliavkoff will negotiate a media contract that keeps the 10 remaining schools together.

That line has held steady since Arizona president Robert Robbins and Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano publicly stated their willingness to wait for a final offer before possibly pursuing futures in the Big 12.

If presidential panic isn’t a factor, the conference has a better chance to navigate the crisis.

However, the survival line has fluctuated over the past year and could move again in the coming weeks, depending on circumstances.

The (unofficial) deadline

If desired, the Pac-12 could delay consummating a media deal for months and gamble that a stellar football season will generate big ratings and drive up the price of its content.

But that’s a risky strategy.

The informal deadline for a deal is July 21, when players and coaches will gather in Las Vegas for the Pac-12’s preseason media extravaganza.

If there’s no media rights agreement by then, the existential crisis will dominate the proceedings and divert attention from the coaches and players — a PR nightmare, in other words.

We would interpret that scenario to mean Kliavkoff has been unable to secure a satisfactory deal, and the odds for Pac-12 survival would drop.

But make no mistake: News could break at any point. The situation is highly fluid.

The valuation calculation

The Hotline initially expected the Pac-12 to sign a media deal that averaged $35 million to $40 million per school per year.

But the Big 12 changed the marketplace in October. Desperate for stability, the conference renewed its agreements with Fox and ESPN and established a valuation floor: $31.7 million per school per year.

We expect the Pac-12’s deal to last five-to-seven years and fall within 10 percent of the Big 12’s valuation, indicating a low end of $28.5 million per school and a high end of $34.9 million.

And frankly, slight differences in annual media revenue are immaterial to success for schools that have $100 million annual budgets.

(The Pac-12 has better media markets and the two most valuable football brands, Oregon and Washington. Meanwhile, the Big 12 has a deeper well of quality programs and a better basketball product. But in general, the leagues are more alike than different.)

One important piece to the valuation calculation: Will the Pac-12 agreement include the sale of its data and statistics to sports gambling companies? And if so, how significant is the accompanying dollar figure?

The media partners

Few topics have received as much attention over the past year as ESPN’s interest level in the Pac-12 without USC and UCLA providing direct access to the L.A. market.

Our view is unchanged: The interest is narrow but deep.

The most influential network in college sports probably doesn’t want a large package of Pac-12 football games. After all, it has plenty of inventory through its contracts with the ACC, SEC and Big 12.

But what it needs from the Pac-12, it needs badly: Content to fill the late broadcast window (7:30 p.m.), which is prime time for the 76 million residents in the Pacific and Mountain Time Zones.

The late window is also critical in the rabid (and rapidly growing) sports wagering industry — a chance for gamblers to recoup losses from earlier in the day.

ESPN licenses 22 regular-season games from the Pac-12 under the terms of the agreement signed in 2011. We expect the number in the next contract to be approximately the same.

Our favorite for the other 50-something games that currently air on the Fox and Pac-12 Networks? That would be Apple, with its growing interest in streaming live sports.

And don’t discount the potential for a third media partner — perhaps it’s Amazon, Fox or NBC (for streaming on Peacock) — to grab a small package of Pac-12 games.

The expansion decision

There are three possible answers to the membership question: The Pac-12 could stand on 10; it could add two schools; or it could add four.

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We have yet to detect strong interest for 14 and remain skeptical that a 10-team conference would include enough TV homes and generate enough game inventory to meet the desired valuation threshold.

(Simply adding two schools would increase inventory by 13-15 home games per season, with each worth several million dollars in the media contract.)

The overwhelming favorites are San Diego State and SMU, although they carry very different profiles.

The Aztecs are a geographic fit and just reached the NCAA Tournament championship game.

SMU brings the Dallas media market and is a long-haul play competitively, with the resources to support football success.

In our view, no other school clears the bar — at least not now.

If the Pac-12 is back at the negotiating table in five or six years for the next media contract cycle, there could be other expansion options.

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to [email protected] or call 408-920-5716

*** Follow me on Twitter: @WilnerHotline

*** Pac-12 Hotline is not endorsed or sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Conference.

​ Orange County Register 

Lakers, Taurean Prince agree to 1-year deal to kick off free agency

• June 30, 2023

The Lakers agreed to terms on a one-year contract with free agent forward Taurean Prince, a source confirmed to the Southern California News Group.

ESPN reported, citing Prince’s agents at Creative Artists Agency, that the 29-year-old forward and the Lakers agreed to a one-year, $4.5 million deal not long after the free agency negotiating window officially opened on Friday at 3 p.m. PT.

Prince, who played for the Atlanta Hawks as a rookie when Lakers head coach Darvin Ham was an assistant on that coaching staff, can’t officially sign the contract until 9:01 p.m. PT on July 5, after the free agency moratorium period ends.

The Lakers did lose free agent forward Troy Brown, who reportedly agreed to a one-year deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

More to come on this story, which will be updated.

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Expelled OUSD student sues district, alleges racial discrimination, violations of due process

• June 30, 2023

A former Canyon High School freshman, who was expelled for alleged sexual harassment, has sued the Orange Unified School District, claiming he faced racial discrimination and violations of due process.

The lawsuit was filed in the Central District of California on June 16 by May Jung Law as well as Benjamin Crump, a nationally recognized civil rights attorney.

In addition to not being granted due process, the lawsuit alleges the presence of racial discrimination that occurred throughout the disciplinary process, claiming the existence of “racial and ethnic disparities.” These incidents allegedly occurred while the student was being questioned by a panel of administrators who would eventually decide his fate at the school.

“The district tries to bank on people not asking questions or digging deeper,” said Je Yon Jung, the attorney representing the student. “Yet, the more we started to ask questions, the more we were like this is really bad and needed to do something.”

The student had a “consensual” interaction with a female student, the lawsuit alleges, and after an “interrogation” and subsequent disciplinary process by the district, the student was accused of sexual harassment and ultimately expelled.

“While OUSD and its employees cannot comment upon many aspects of the lawsuit due to the privacy of students and others, the District denies the allegations in the lawsuit and plans to disprove the allegations in court,” said OUSD communications coordinator Hana Brake.

In December 2022, the student — who was not named in the lawsuit and is not being named by the Southern California News Group since he is a minor — was called into the Canyon High assistant principal’s office and questioned about his interactions with female peers, the lawsuit said.

A parent had complained to the school, according to the lawsuit, alleging that the student had met with her daughter during a class where she declined a kiss. The lawsuit claims the student was questioned about this interaction by former assistant principal Greg Smith and current assistant principal Nora Alvarez without his knowledge that a parent had complained.

During the questioning, the student was told to recount all of his interactions with his female peers, including any and all “touches on the arm,” the lawsuit said. Those other students, according to the lawsuit, were also questioned throughout the semester and did not accuse him of forcibly kissing or initiating any sexual contact.

The student said in the lawsuit that he was forced to stay and be questioned for more than two hours and wasn’t allowed to call his parents.

The student was initially suspended from school-related activities for 27 days, according to the lawsuit.

But the school convened a “Student Success Panel” which consisted of “three panelists who are administrators from other schools within the district,” the lawsuit alleges, who read statements from the parties involved, met behind closed doors and ultimately expelled him.

The student was sent to Villa Park High School, another school in the district, for the remainder of the school year.

After a failed appeals process by the student’s parents, the family filed the lawsuit against OUSD alleging “constitutional violations and racial discrimination.”

The lawsuit alleges the student, who is Latino and Korean, was subjected to racism throughout the disciplinary process. OUSD, the lawsuit alleges, disciplines Black and Brown children at two to three times the rate of White students, citing data from previous SSP hearings.

The SSP process, Jung said, is used against students of color in an “absurd” manner and is “designed to wrongfully accuse children of color.”

“On a daily basis, we entrust our children’s physical and emotional well-being and safety to our student educators,” said Jessica Meeder, senior counsel at May Jung. “It is an egregious abuse of power for the OUSD to take that trust and deny our children the most basic and fundamental protections at school because they are children of color and minors who may not know their rights.”

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Apple hits historic $3 trillion milestone

• June 30, 2023

By Ryan Vlastelica | Bloomberg

Apple made Wall Street history as the first company with a market value over $3 trillion, the latest sign of big tech’s seemingly unstoppable dominance in equity markets.

The iPhone maker gained 2.3% on Friday, adding to a rally that’s added more than $983 billion to its size this year and leaving it roughly a half-trillion dollars above the next-largest company. Apple’s ascent to the milestone helped the Nasdaq 100 Index to its best-ever first half ever, driving a broader stock rally that underscored the dominance of tech mega-caps

The rally has caught many strategists off guard, leading some to question its viability as the economy faces potentially more Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes. However, investors remain excited about the growth potential of artificial intelligence, and they have also gravitated toward the kind of quality factors that Apple has in spades, including a strong balance sheet, durable revenue streams, and a robust competitive position.

“The reason Apple has outperformed for more than a decade isn’t that investors are being foolhardy, but because it is executing on a business strategy that works, its earnings plan is working, and its lock on the consumer is only getting stronger,” said Jonathan Curtis, director of portfolio management for Franklin Equity Group.

“The balance sheet is phenomenal, it pays a dividend it can continue to grow, it has an active repurchasing program, and a consumer staples-esque platform business, all powered by a device people look at four hours a day,” Curtis said.

In a sign of Wall Street’s ongoing optimism about the stock, Citi on Thursday began coverage of Apple with a buy rating, writing that its ability to continue expanding margins was underappreciated. It sees additional upside of about 30% for the stock, a target that would take Apple close to a $4 trillion valuation.

The trillion-dollar club

Apple first became the world’s most valuable stock in 2011, when its market cap was under $340 billion and it comprised about 3.3% of the S&P 500. Since then, it has rarely forfeited that title. It first reached $1 trillion in value in mid-2018, and it achieved a $2 trillion valuation in August 2020, making it the first US company to surpass that level, though Saudi Aramco was the first $2 trillion company overall.

The iPhone maker briefly rose above the $3 trillion level in early 2022, although it failed to close above it, and that peak marked the start of a downtrend that has now been fully erased.

Companies of this size are few and far between, and in the US the club is populated only by other megacap technology and internet stocks, including Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., and chipmaker Nvidia Corp., which became the first trillion-dollar chipmaker earlier this year. Microsoft Corp is the only other US stock with a valuation above $2 trillion.

While Apple is not the biggest gainer of the year — Nvidia, Meta Platforms Inc., and Tesla Inc. have more than doubled — its size gives it a massive influence over markets, accounting for 7.7% of the weight of the S&P 500 Index.

Still, the milestone doesn’t mean smooth sailing for Apple from here. The stock trades at about 30 times forward earnings, and while this is down from a 2020 peak above 35, it remains well above its 10-year average multiple of 17.9.

Despite Citi’s new bull call, analysts have been pulling back on the stock amid the year’s rally. Fewer than 70% of the firms tracked by Bloomberg recommend buying the stock, the lowest such ratio among the trillion-dollar stocks. Furthermore, its consensus rating — a proxy for its ratio of buy, hold, and sell ratings — is near its lowest since November 2020. A recent downgrade from UBS was the latest example of weaker sentiment.

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Galaxy starts July with ‘two big derby games’ in four days

• June 30, 2023

It is rivalry week for the Galaxy.

The Galaxy kicks off July against their Northern California and traditional rival San Jose on Saturday at Stanford Stadium (7:30 p.m., Apple TV+). Just three days later, it takes on city rival LAFC on Fourth of July at the Rose Bowl in front a crowd that is likely to break the MLS attendace record of 74,479.

“They’re two big derby games,” Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Bond said. “It’ll be something we will all look forward to. It’s definitely one the fans are looking forward to and we’re hoping to do it for them.”

The Galaxy heads into San Jose on a four-game unbeaten streak, though it is only one win and three consecutive draws. In order to make up ground in the Western Conference, the draws are going to have to turn into wins at some point.

“Through stretches of these last four games, I’ve liked what the group has been able to do,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “I feel we’re positive about some of the things we’ve settled in. The gap for us, I think we’re No. 1 or 2 league in chance creation, but we are so far behind it in the actual execution of those chances. We’ve got to close that gap and that will take a little stress off of the defensive side because there is a sense that you really have to be perfect at times on the defensive side, which we haven’t, but I think we’ve improved and will continue to improve.

“The mentality has been strong, we’ve gotten out of front games, we’ve come from behind in games, the one we really rue was the one here (June 21 against Sporting Kansas City). We’re up 2-1 and it’s late in the game and not taking those (three points). If you take those points, we would be over the moon with this stretch of four games because three of the four have been on the road and in tough places to play.

“We’re showing some resiliency and some progress, but we’ve got to close that gap of finishing the chances that we’re creating for ourselves, which then takes a little bit of stress maybe off of the defensive side. And when you’re protecting a lead, you get everybody really focused on that protection and not feeling like we have to overpush to get those goals that haven’t been easy for us to get.”

The Galaxy have four games to start the month before the Leagues Cup break. After San Jose and LAFC, it will host the Philadelphia Union on July 8 and hit the road for a July 15 clash with the Vancouver Whitecaps.

“We feel good about going into San Jose, I think we played one of our best games against them here (May 14, 2-1 win), so we’ve got to learn from that. I’m sure they’ll adapt to some things, but it was one of our days where we did a lot of things well on the day for 90 minutes and deserved the win,” Vanney said. “Then when you go to the Rose Bowl, and it’s 80,000-plus people and you’re playing your cross-city rivals, anything can happen. It’s going to be hell on wheels … Right now we’re in a section (of our season) where it’s one game at a time. Get everybody ready to get a result on that day.”

“Thing about July is, there are four games (in league), we’ve got to really do our best to manage these four games and get as much as we can out of these four games.”

Sega Coulilbaly waived

The club announced Friday that it had waived the French defender after two-plus seasons. Coulilbaly had been slowed by a knee injury this season.

“We’re going to leave it at undisclosed medical reasons,” Vanney said as a reason. “He will return back to France to try to get himself ready to go again. We’ve been working close with him and we just think, for all of us, this is the scenario.”

GALAXY AT SAN JOSE

When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Stanford Stadium

How to watch: Apple TV+ (MLS Season Pass)

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After 25 years, San Juan Capistrano’s Cedar Creek Inn closes. Its replacement just opened.

• June 30, 2023

Well, it’s official.

After 25 years in business in downtown San Juan Capistrano, Cedar Creek Inn changed its name Friday, June 30 to Tavern at the Mission. In addition to the new name and signage, owners David Wilhelm and Gregg Solomon have revamped the menu, with plans for an extensive renovation set to take place next year.

“It’s an iconic location that’s only going to get better,” said Wilhelm, who purchased Cedar Creek Inn in May. After taking ownership, the chef/restaurateur added new items to the menu, including some of his signature dishes, like his buttermilk fried chicken with thyme gravy and his Comté cheese-topped French onion soup that uses beef and veal stocks. While “90 percent” of Cedar Creek Inn’s menu will change under his tutelage — “we will feature some of my greatest hits, which are classic comfort foods with my own twist,” he said —  Wilhelm smartly kept intact such Cedar Creek Inn staples as the Monte Cristo sandwich and coconut cake.

The new Tavern at the Mission, the second iteration of Wilhelm’s Tavern brand, will remain open throughout the year until a major indoor and outdoor renovation happens at a tentative date in early 2024 during the slow months of the winter season. Wilhelm and Solomon plan on transforming the space with a new vibe that will blur the lines between the interior and exterior seating areas. “I would describe the upcoming décor as a contemporary Santa Barbara Mission,” he said. Guests can look forward to open and airy interiors with cream colored walls and new flooring, decorative lighting, seating arrangements. “It’s going to be understated but very sophisticated,” Wilhelm added.

The restaurant’s bar theme will lean into the city’s cowboy history with the addition of dark leather buckskin booths and bar seats.

More importantly, the entire restaurant, which measures a whopping 5,000 square feet, will open up to provide a more cohesive flow. “Right now there are three different physical components: there’s the bar, the patio, and the other side is the dining room,” he explained. “We’re going to open up the bar and we’re going to open up all the doors in the dining room so that you could be sitting at the bar and you’ll be able to literally look all the way across the patio and into the dining room.”

The roughly 3,000-square-foot patio will also undergo a facelift, including new seating, up-lighting for the ash trees and landscaping.

“We’re going to clean everything up and make it very simple, very contemporary,” Wilhelm said.

This is Wilhelm’s latest restaurant in his impressive portfolio, which includes Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern in Dana Point and Tavern House Kitchen and Bar in Newport Beach, as well as a stable of other notable restaurants, past and present, like Kachina, Chimayo Grill, Chat Noir, and Savannah Chop House. It’s also a more personal restaurant because it’s located in the city that he also calls home.

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Tavern at the Mission is the latest concept to come to San Juan Capistrano’s downtown area, south county’s budding culinary epicenter. Since 2020, the historic center has seen an uptick in chef-driven eateries, most most notable Heritage Barbecue (which ranked No. 1 in The Register’s 75 best places to eat list), Breezy, artisanal bakery FKN Bread, Mission-adjacent Bloom Restaurant and Bar, and JD Flannel Donuts. These new eateries join a slew of long-standing taquerias, like El Campeon Carniceria and Las Golondrinas, and other established restaurants. Adding to the city’s growing food pedigree is the Ecology Center, a sustainable and organic 28-acre farm that sells homegrown produce and features recurring family-style dining events that teach diners about sustainable, local farming.

Find it: Tavern at the Mission, 26860 Old Mission Road (at El Camino Real), San Juan Capistrano; open for lunch and dinner

​ Orange County Register 

Corky: Showing love for those love to surf with

• June 30, 2023

One of my very favorite events to cover each year is the Surfer’s Hall of Fame inductions.

This year’s ceremony is set for 9 a.m. on Aug. 4.  The site is the Surfer’s Hall of Fame Plaza on the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street in Huntington Beach, directly across the street from Duke’s Restaurant and the infamous Huntington Beach Pier.  It is part of the big week of the U.S. Open of Surfing, held at the pier from July 29 to Aug. 6.

This is the 26th year for the SHOF, the brainchild of lifetime Huntington Beach local surfer, and owner of Huntington Surf & Sport, Aaron Pai.

Aaron and his family are Orange County surfing royalty and together they put on this event each year to try and give back some of their love and dedication to the sport and lifestyle that is surfing and the surfing community as a whole.  I can’t remember how many Pais there are now in that family, but they all surf and are all really cool and they all work together to make the SHOF one of the most prestigious events in Surfing.

The ceremony is patterned after the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre collection of cement tiles with hand and footprints of movie stars. In this case, each surfer who is inducted into the Hall of Fame has a square of concrete which they put their hand and footprints, sign and write a short something.  These concrete squares are laid in the ground in the Surfer’s Hall of Fame Plaza and are looked over by the big statue of Duke Kahanamoku that marks the spot.

Some of the previous inductees into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame include Kelly Slater, Tom Curren, Phil Edwards, Mike Doyle, Shaun Tomson, Mark Richards, Gerry Lopez, George Downing, Paul Strauch, Joyce Hoffman, Lisa Anderson, Margo Oberg, Bob Hurley, Bruce Brown, Robert August, Bud Lamas, Mickey Munoz, Jericho Poplar, Wingnut Weaver, Rob Machado and this list goes on and on and even includes my favorite cool dude and old surfing fat guy, me.  I try to not include myself in this list each year, but my ego wins out and the fact that I am very proud of actually being inducted that I just can’t help myself.  It’s my party and I’ll brag if I want to.  (Insert me with tongue sticking out going “hahaha.”)

This year’s inductees are Italo Ferreira, the dynamic Brazilian world champion, Pipeline Masters winner and surfing’s first Olympic gold medalist.  Also, Fernando Aguerre, a Southern California transplant originally from Argentina.  Fernando started the super successful Reef Brazil company and is today the president of the International Surfing Association.  It was largely due to his relentless work and dedication to getting surfing recognized as an Olympic sport that at long – believe me very long – last it is now part of the summer games.

Rounding out this year’s inductees is our very own, and I not only mean Orange County’s very own, but The Orange County Register’s very own, Laylan Connelly.  I am so over the top happy, this is a great moment for all of us to share in.  Laylan has worked heart-and-soul for more than 20 years bringing the very heartbeat of the surfing community to the world at large in ways that engage both the hard-core surfers as well as being informative to those who never have, and never will, set foot on a surfboard.

She is simply the best at doing what she does, reporting surfing to the world.  I am super proud of her and it has been a true honor to be her fellow surfing columnist through all these years – and many more I hope to come.

Not only does Laylan write about it, but she is a full-on surfer herself who describes her best days as “hanging out down at San Onofre with husband Jon Perino and children Kai and Liliani, soaking in the sun and surf and looking for the next story on the horizon.”

A huge congrats to Laylan and her family.  I will tell you more about the event and both Italo and Fernando in my next offering.  Stay tuned.

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The Supreme Court rules for a designer who doesn’t want to make wedding websites for gay couples

• June 30, 2023

By JESSICA GRESKO

WASHINGTON — In a defeat for gay rights, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled on Friday that a Christian graphic artist who wants to design wedding websites can refuse to work with same-sex couples. One of the court’s liberal justices wrote in a dissent that the decision’s effect is to “mark gays and lesbians for second-class status” and that the decision opens the door to other discrimination.

The court ruled 6-3 for designer Lorie Smith, saying that she can refuse to design websites for same-sex weddings despite a Colorado law that bars discrimination based on sexual orientation, race, gender and other characteristics. The court said forcing her to create the websites would violate her free speech rights under the Constitution’s First Amendment.

The decision suggests that artists, photographers, videographers and writers are among those who can refuse to offer what the court called expressive services if doing so would run contrary to their beliefs. But that’s different from other businesses not engaged in speech and therefore not covered by the First Amendment, such as restaurants and hotels.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the court’s six conservative justices that the First Amendment “envisions the United States as a rich and complex place where all persons are free to think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands.” Gorsuch said that the court has long held that “the opportunity to think for ourselves and to express those thoughts freely is among our most cherished liberties and part of what keeps our Republic strong.”

See more on key Supreme Court decisions: Southern California educators, leaders split on court’s affirmative action ruling | Court solidifies protections for workers who ask for religious accommodations | Court strikes down affirmative action in college admissions, says race cannot be a factor | Court rejects GOP argument in North Carolina case that could have transformed US elections

The decision is a win for religious rights and one in a series of cases in recent years in which the justices have sided with religious plaintiffs. Last year, for example, the court ruled along ideological lines for a football coach who prayed on the field at his public high school after games. And on Thursday the court in a unanimous decision used the case of a Christian mail carrier who did not want to deliver Amazon packages on Sundays to solidify protections for workers who ask for religious accommodations.

The decision is also a retreat on gay rights for the court. For nearly three decades, the court has expanded the rights of LGBTQ people, most notably giving same-sex couples the right to marry in 2015 and announcing five years later in a decision written by Gorsuch that a landmark civil rights law also protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from employment discrimination.

In the latest decision, however, Gorsuch said that a ruling against Smith would allow the government “to force all manner of artists, speechwriters, and others whose services involve speech to speak what they do not believe on pain of penalty.” For example, a gay website designer could be forced to design websites for an organization that advocates against same-sex marriage, he wrote. “Countless other creative professionals, too, could be forced to choose between remaining silent, producing speech that violates their beliefs, or speaking their minds and incurring sanctions for doing so.”

The court’s dissenting liberal justices led by Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned that the decision will allow a range of businesses to discriminate.

“Today, the Court, for the first time in its history, grants a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class,” Sotomayor wrote in a dissent joined by Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Sotomayor, who read a summary of her dissent in court to underscore her disagreement, said that the decision’s logic “cannot be limited to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.” A website designer could refuse to create a wedding website for an interracial couple, a stationer could refuse to sell a birth announcement for a disabled couple, and a large retail store could limit its portrait services to “traditional” families, she wrote.

President Joe Biden said in a statement that the ruling was “disappointing,” adding that it “weakens long-standing laws that protect all Americans against discrimination in public accommodations – including people of color, people with disabilities, people of faith, and women.”

Sotomayor referenced the court’s history with the issue of gay rights in her dissent, writing: “The LGBT rights movement has made historic strides, and I am proud of the role this Court has recently played in that history. Today, however, we are taking steps backward.”

“Today is a sad day in American constitutional law and in the lives of LGBT people. … the immediate, symbolic effect of the decision is to mark gays and lesbians for second-class status,” she wrote at another point.

Even as it has expanded gay rights, however, the court has been careful to say those with differing religious views needed to be respected. The belief that marriage can only be between one man and one woman is an idea that “long has been held — and continues to be held — in good faith by reasonable and sincere people here and throughout the world,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the court’s gay marriage decision.

The court returned to that idea five years ago when it was confronted with the case of a Christian baker who objected to designing a cake for a same-sex wedding. The court issued a limited ruling in favor of the baker, Jack Phillips, saying there had been impermissible hostility toward his religious views in the consideration of his case. Phillips’ lawyer, Kristen Waggoner, of the Alliance Defending Freedom, also brought the most recent case to the court. On Friday, she said the Supreme Court was right to reaffirm that the government cannot compel people to say things they do not believe.

“Disagreement isn’t discrimination, and the government can’t mislabel speech as discrimination to censor it,” she said in a statement.

Smith, who owns a Colorado design business called 303 Creative, does not currently create wedding websites. She has said that she wants to but that her Christian faith would prevent her from creating websites celebrating same-sex marriages. And that’s where she ran into conflict with state law.

Colorado, like most other states, has a law forbidding businesses open to the public from discriminating against customers. And about half of the states have laws explicitly prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Colorado said that under its so-called public accommodations law, if Smith offers wedding websites to the public, she must provide them to all customers, regardless of sexual orientation. Businesses that violate the law can be fined, among other things. Smith argued that applying the law to her violates her First Amendment rights, and the Supreme Court agreed.

The case is 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, 21-476.

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