Chiles v. Salazar: Oral Argument

Case Summary:The case involves Kaley Chiles, a licensed professional counselor in Colorado, who wants to provide talk‑based counseling to minors aimed at helping them resist or change same‑sex attraction or gender‑transition goals, consistent with her religious beliefs and the minors’ stated objectives. Colorado’s Minor Conversion Therapy Law prohibits licensed mental‑health professionals from performing conversion therapy on minors, so Chiles filed a pre‑enforcement suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against state officials, including Patty Salazar, arguing that the law censors her counseling conversations, violates her Free Speech and Free Exercise rights, and chills her from offering the counseling she wishes to provide. The issue before the Supreme Court was whether Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy” for minors, as applied to a licensed counselor’s talk‑therapy with minor clients, violates the First Amendment by restricting protected speech rather than merely regulating professional conduct.