Louisville pays $800K to settle Christian photographer’s free speech swimsuit

The metropolis of Louisville, Kentucky, has agreed to pay $800,000 in legal professional charges as a part of a settlement with a Christian photographer after years of litigation over a nondiscrimination provision in an area regulation she was involved would make her violate her religion. 

“I am thrilled to see this case come to a close and celebrate that free speech is for everyone and the government cannot force you to create anything you don’t believe in,” Chelsey Nelson, an Alliance Defending Freedom consumer and Louisville-based photographer, stated in a press release to Fox News Digital.  

“Artists like me should have the right to decide what messages we express,” Nelson added. “You shouldn’t lose your freedom of speech when you choose to make a living. I am grateful that I can continue photographing and creating consistent with my religious beliefs and ensure that all artists in Louisville can do the same.” 

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The settlement, filed Tuesday within the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, Louisville Division, follows a Sept. 30, 2025, ruling by which the court docket sided with Nelson over a prohibition from the town of Louisville on discrimination.

In the September ruling, the court docket cited 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, which stated {that a} Colorado web site designer’s First Amendment rights allow her to refuse to make customized wedding ceremony web sites for {couples} of the identical intercourse. 

“That 2023 decision confirmed this Court’s 2022 interpretation of the First Amendment to bar the City of Louisville from enforcing an ordinance prohibiting wedding photographer Chelsey Nelson from stating her traditional (now dissenting) views on traditional marriage or declining to participate in those ceremonies,” the September ruling stated.

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“These disputes, no less than those from earlier but equally fraught moments in our nation’s history, posed profound questions about the meaning of speech, the government’s authority to demand as well as forbid expression, and the tension in a system of ordered liberty between the common good and individual freedom.” 

Tuesday’s settlement was announced by Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Nelson and filed the lawsuit, Chelsey Nelson Photography v. Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government in 2019. 

“Louisville’s law threatened to compel Nelson to create photographs and blogs celebrating a message about marriage she does not believe and prohibited her from expressing her views on marriage on her studio’s website,” in response to the authorized group. 

“The government cannot force Americans to say things they don’t believe,” Bryan Neihart, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, stated in a press release. 

“For almost six years, Louisville officials tried to do just that by threatening to force Chelsey to promote views about marriage that violated her religious beliefs,” Neihart added. “Louisville’s threats contradicted bedrock First Amendment principles which leave decisions about what to say with the people, not the government. This settlement should teach Louisville that violating the U.S. Constitution can be expensive.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to the workplace of Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg for remark.