Jonathan Turley: Justice Jackson’s “Chili” dissent presents a troubling perspective on freedom of expression
This ominous tone stems from the fact that freedom of expression prevailed over state-imposed doctrine in the Colorado case. Eight justices, including her two liberal colleagues, ruled Colorado couldn’t help Licensed counselors prohibit “any practice or treatment” that “attempts or is intended to change” a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The free speech victory was disastrous for Jackson and many on the left. Jackson asserted that allowing counselors to discuss the causes and basis of sexual orientation changes would “open a can of worms.” It would be far better for the majority to simply silence such dissenting voices in the name of science.
The opposition in Chile is only the latest example of this Chilling jurisprudence Judge Jacksonincluding a clear rejection of the values of freedom of expression. Consider the detention of her colleagues, which Jackson found particularly appalling.
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson delivers a joint lecture, as part of the Flannery Lecture Series, in the Ceremonial Courtroom of the U.S. Courthouse on March 9, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Maxine Wallace/The Washington Post)
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that First Amendment “It reflects…a judgment that every American possesses the inalienable right to think and speak freely, and a belief in the free market of ideas as the best means of discovering truth…Any law that suppresses expression based on viewpoint represents a ‘scandalous’ assault on both of these commitments.”
What a nightmare.
Instead, Jackson would have declared that the ban on anything deemed “conversion therapy” was “behavior,” not speech. It’s that easy. You simply impose fixed doctrine and then treat any dissenters as subject to regulation because of their behavior, not their views.
Justice Elena Kagan was unable to withhold her frustration with her colleague, noting that “[b]ecause the state suppressed one side of the debate, while aiding the other, the constitutional case is clear and direct.” She added that Jackson’s view “depends on reconceptualizing—and in this way collapsing—the well-established distinction between viewpoint-based and other content-based speech restrictions.”
Other countries have adopted Jackson’s lenient approach to restricting freedom of expression. newly, Malta failed to convict a man Who was facing a five-month prison sentence for merely discussing his renunciation of homosexuality due to religious conversion.
Jackson would declare that the ban on anything deemed “conversion therapy” was “behavior,” not speech. It’s that easy. You simply impose fixed doctrine and then treat any dissenters as subject to regulation because of their behavior, not their views.
Of course, we’ve just been through a pandemic when censorship and orthodoxy dressed up as scientific. Leading scientific figures were canceled and harassed. This was the case with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration and has been a vocal critic of COVID-19 policies.
Bhattacharya was targeted because of it Dissenting viewpoints On health policy, including opposition Wholesale schools and businesses closing.
Jonathan Turley: Even The Washington Post admits that Jack Smith was wrong about free speech
He and other scientists were later acquitted. European allies who did not close their schools did much better than we did, including avoiding a national mental health and education crisis. Simply put, we’ve never had this debate.
He was recently honored with the prestigious Intellectual Freedom Award from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also now the 18th director of the National Institutes of Health.
NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya testifies during a hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies on Oversight of the National Institutes of Health in the Rayburn Building on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
However, years ago, courts, media, and politicians joined in treating opposing viewpoints as “conspiracy theories.”
Justice Jackson presses Idaho attorney over treating ‘trans women differently than cis women’
Some have argued that the origin of the virus was likely a Chinese research laboratory in Wuhan. The Washington Post denounced this position, describing it as “Debunking the “Coronavirus” conspiracy theory.Contacted by New York Times science and health correspondent Apoorva Mandavli Any mention of the “racist” laboratory theory.
Federal agencies now support the lab theory as the most likely based on scientific evidence.
Likewise, many questioned the effectiveness of those blue surgical masks and supported natural immunity to the virus – both positions the government later acknowledged.
Law students are keen to combat the ‘cancel culture’ spreading across the country
Others have questioned the so-called six-foot rule, which has closed many businesses, as not backed by science.
In testimony before Congress, Dr. said: Anthony Fauciformer director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) from 1984 to 2022, he later admitted that the rule “just came up” and “was not based on data.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical adviser and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, attends an event with First Lady Jill Biden to urge Americans to get vaccinated before the holiday season, during a virtual coronavirus (COVID-19) event with AARP at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., December 9, 2022. (Saul Loeb/AFP)
However, not only have strict rules (and meltdowns) been imposed in public spaces, the media has led to further ostracization of opposition critics.
Parents, not bureaucrats, raise America’s children and the Supreme Court agrees
For years, critics have portrayed those who questioned sex reassignment surgeries and treatments as bigots. now, Leading medical associations and European countries It has decided that such actions should not generally be permitted.
It was all there Orthodoxy masquerading as science.
However, in Justice Jackson’s view, protecting opposing scientific and professional viewpoints is a “can of worms” that courts should avoid in favor of state- and association-imposed facts. Allowing such opposing views, she wrote, “ultimately risks serious harm to the health and well-being of Americans.”
Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson poses as she and members of the Supreme Court pose for a new group photo after being added to the Supreme Court at the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., on October 7, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Keep in mind that advisors can still be sued for any damage they cause due to malpractice or negligence. In fact, recently in New York, The jury awarded $2 million to Fox Varian22 years old, due to a double mastectomy that she underwent when she was a minor.
State associations can also publish positions on this treatment and seek to persuade professionals and the public of best practices for children.
None of that was enough for Judge Jackson or for the state of Colorado. Ironically, Colorado has now succeeded in significantly enhancing freedom of expression after repeatedly failing to limit it. Democratic lawmakers have made the state the most hostile to free speech in the country.
The Colorado Supreme Court sought to block the president Donald Trump From the ballot. Notably, while many of us viewed Trump’s views on the 2020 election as protected speech, Colorado treated them as conduct and a call for insurrection.
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It was the state of Colorado that sought to force bakers, photographers and web designers to produce works in favor of same-sex marriage despite their religious objections. Each effort was supported by the Tenth Circuit and each failed in spectacular fashion before the Supreme Court.
While many of us celebrate this victory for free speech, these advocates condemn this ruling in appalling terms.
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Even more frightening, Jackson is now routinely called a model for new nominees, including pushing to pack the Supreme Court with an immediate liberal majority.
If so, Jackson’s radical views on constitutional interpretation It could be replicated in the newly packed Supreme Court. Paraphrasing Chile’s decision, “To be quite frank, we know exactly what might happen next.”
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