Colorado pays $1.5M to artist who refused to make same-sex wedding site after her SCOTUS win

Graphic artist Lorie Smith beat Colorado at the Supreme Court when it ruled the Centennial State could not punish her for refusing to make a website for a same-sex wedding, upholding her First Amendment rights.

Now the owner of 303 Creative is getting her attorney's fees paid by the state as well.

Smith's lawyers at the Alliance Defending Freedom and Colorado Attorney General Philip Weiser notified the federal trial court Tuesday that they had reached a settlement on that issue.

Colorado will pay her $1.5 million for the nearly seven years she spent under threat from the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which said she violated public accommodations law by refusing to produce messages against her Christian faith.

"For me, it’s always about what message is requested, never the person making the request," Smith said in ADF's press release. "I hope that everyone will celebrate the court’s decision upholding this right for each of us to speak freely."