Chiles v. Salazar (24-539)
- Term
- OT2025
- Argued
- 2025-10-07
- Decided
- 2026-03-31
- Vote
- 8-1 for Chiles
- Opinion
- Justice Gorsuch
- Majority
- Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett
- Dissent
- Jackson
Holding
Justice Gorsuch delivered an 8-1 opinion, joined by Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Sotomayor, Kagan, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. The Court held that Colorado's conversion therapy ban regulates speech based on viewpoint — it permits counselors to express acceptance of a client's sexual orientation or gender identity but forbids speech aimed at changing those attributes. The opinion rested on three pillars: (1) talk therapy is pure speech, the 'quintessential form of protected expression,' and cannot be recharacterized as 'conduct' through labeling; (2) the law discriminates based on viewpoint; (3) no historical tradition of content regulation (medical licensing, informed consent, malpractice) supports diminished First Amendment protection here.
Pre-decision prediction
Chiles 6-3 (72% confidence).
Opinion of the Court
Authored by Justice Gorsuch (20,488 words total).
3/31/2026 3:24:45 PM
Compare Results Old File:
66 pages (376 KB) 3/30/2026 4:10:57 PM
66 pages (377 KB) 3/31/2026 3:23:47 PM
Replacement Insertions Deletions
Go to First Change (page 46)
file://NoURLProvided[3/31/2026 3:24:45 PM]
Styling and Annotations
Excerpt of 8 of 144 paragraphs. Full opinion available on the interactive page or in the official PDF.
Read the slip opinion (PDF) · Interactive oral-argument transcript · All OT 2025 cases · All decisions
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