California's gay conversion therapy ban gets a federal court hearing - San Jose Mercury News
Mike Huckabee is not happy with the ban:SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court on Wednesday tussled with the legality of California's unprecedented ban on gay conversion therapy for minors, suggesting it could be upheld despite concerns for the free speech rights of counselors who support the practice.
During nearly two hours of arguments, a three-judge 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel grilled lawyers on both sides of the issue, wondering whether the First Amendment applies to psychotherapy aimed at converting gay teens to being straight. California in January became the first state in the nation to outlaw the therapy, concluding it serves no purpose and is harmful to minors.
Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, while clearly concerned about trampling on free speech rights, at one point told a lawyer for parents challenging the law that it seems the Legislature has the leeway to regulate licensed mental health professionals through such a ban.
"It's really a fine line," he said. "Why can't the Legislature say, 'Look, if you want to be a licensed professional, this is the type of therapy you can't (do)?' "
In two separate cases, a group of therapists and families sued to block the law, arguing it interferes with religious practices and violates therapists' free speech rights by barring gay conversion discussions between young patients and their counselors. Two Sacramento federal judges have split on the question, one upholding the law and the other finding it
violates the First Amendment.
The case is being closely watched as other states, New Jersey and Massachusetts among them, consider similar laws.
The key question is whether counseling minors to change their sexual preference is medical treatment that can be regulated by the state, or speech that deserves broad First Amendment protections. Ninth Circuit Judge Morgan Christen, an appointee of President Barack Obama, called the issue "pivotal."
"Lets say a young person comes in and says, You know, Ive always believed Im homosexual, believed that since I was 7 years old, but now that Im 17, Ive decided that Im not, Im heterosexual, and goes to a pro-homosexual counselor, Huckabee told Staver. Would that person be at risk?