Do Bans on Conversion Therapy Violate the First Amendment?

In this episode, Stephanie Barclay of the Georgetown University Law Center and Erwin Chemerinsky of the UC Berkeley School of Law join to recap the oral arguments from Chiles v. Salazar and discuss whether Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy violates the First Amendment. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.  

Resources 

• United States v. Skrmetti (2025) 
• Mahmoud v. Taylor (2025) 
• NIFLA v. Becerra (2018) 
• Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California (Cal. 1976) 
• Stephanie Barclay et al., “Brief amici curiae of First Amendment Scholars,” Chiles v. Salazar (6/13/2025) 
• Erwin Chemerinsky et al., “Brief amici curiae of Constitutional Law Scholars,” Chiles v. Salazar (8/26/2025) 
• Cass Report (2024) 

In our new podcast, Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness, Jeffrey Rosen explores the founders’ lives with the historians who know them best. Plus, filmmaker Ken Burns shares his daily practice of self-reflection. 

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