Josh Hawley's Wife Faces Calls to Be Sanctioned Over Supreme Court Case

Erin Morrow Hawley, an attorney and the wife of Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, is facing calls to be sanctioned after it was reported that a man named in the Supreme Court's ruling in a case affecting LGBTQ rights says he had nothing to do with it.

On Friday, the court ruled 6-3 in favor of Lorie Smith, stating she can refuse to design websites for same-sex weddings, despite a Colorado law that bars discrimination based on sexual orientation, race, gender, and other characteristics.

Smith and her attorneys from the conservative Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed her initial case to Colorado district court in 2016, arguing that the state's anti-discrimination law prevented her from including a message on the website for her company that stated she would not create wedding websites for gay couples.

The request was not the basis for the lawsuit filed preemptively by Smith before she started making wedding websites.

Josh Hawley with his wife, Erin Morrow Hawley, at The Crossings Church on November 6, 2018, in Columbia, Missouri. Attorney Erin Morrow Hawley is facing calls to be sanctioned after it was reported that a man named in the Supreme Court's ruling in a case affecting LGBTQ rights says he had nothing to do with it. Getty Images/Michael Thomas

But as the case advanced, Smith said that she had received an inquiry in September 2016 from a same-sex couple—Stewart and Mike—to build a wedding website after lawyers for the state of Colorado pressed Smith on whether she had sufficient grounds to sue.

Smith named Stewart—and included a website service request from him that listed his phone number and email address—in court documents in 2017.

But Stewart, who did not give his last name, has now said he was unaware his name was invoked in the lawsuit until he was contacted last week by a reporter from The New Republic. He denied making the request to The New Republic, The Associated Press, and The Washington Post.

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"I was incredibly surprised given the fact that I've been happily married to a woman for the last 15 years," he told AP. He said he is a web designer himself and could have designed his own website if he needed to.

Kristen Waggoner, Smith's attorney and the CEO and president of ADF, denied the request from Stewart was fabricated.

"Even though it is legally irrelevant whether Lorie received a request for a same-sex wedding website, many in the media are impugning Lorie's integrity over the legitimacy of one request. It's undisputed that Lorie did in fact receive this request through her website after she filed her lawsuit," Waggoner said in a statement to Newsweek.

"To say that Lorie or ADF manufactured it is a lie. Though the media now claims this request wasn't genuine, Lorie had no reason to doubt its legitimacy. And had she responded, she would have risked potential punishment by Colorado, which would have undermined the very purpose for her pre-enforcement suit.

Stewart's comments to news outlets sparked an outcry on social media and led some to call for Erin Morrow Hawley, who is a senior counsel at ADF, to be sanctioned.

"Josh Hawley's wife should be sanctioned," a viral tweet from the @MuellerSheWrote account said.

Kaivan Shroff, an attorney, tweeted: "Zero surprise that it was insurrection supporter Josh Hawley's wife, Erin Hawley, who litigated the FAKE 303 Creative case in front of the Supreme Court. She's as dishonest as her husband. The Extreme Court used the totally made up case to illegitimately strip away LGBT+ rights."

Zero surprise that it was insurrection supporter Josh Hawley’s wife, Erin Hawley, who litigated the FAKE 303 Creative case in front of the Supreme Court. She’s as dishonest as her husband.

The Extreme Court used the totally made up case to illegitimately strip away LGBT+ rights. pic.twitter.com/dFyNbeQ2rl — Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) July 2, 2023

He included a screenshot of Republican Sen. Hawley's tweet celebrating the ruling as a "major victory for free speech and religious liberty" that noted his wife's role in litigating the case.

Another Twitter user wrote: "The 303 Creative case proves, once again, Christian conservatives have to lie to get their way because their agenda is fundamentally repugnant. Erin Morrow Hawley should be censured by the SCOTUS bar and every other bar she's a member of."

In her statement, Waggoner said: "This desperate attempt to malign ADF, our client, and a critical ruling affirming free speech distorts the facts of the case and rests on a flawed view of the law. Lorie Smith received the request at issue, and regardless, a request wasn't required for the Court to decide her case.

She added: "This manufactured sideshow about the request centers on a fact that the court didn't even mention in its decision. It is a tired attempt to punish defenders of free speech for the victory they legitimately won.

"Every American should be thrilled that the Supreme Court upheld free speech for all in 303 Creative (the lawsuit). For those who aren't happy, they should criticize the ruling based on its substance rather than perpetuating falsehoods about the case."

She serves as senior counsel and vice president of the Center for Life and Regulatory Practice at ADF, according to her profile on the group's website.

She has "litigated extensively before the U.S. Supreme Court as well as numerous federal courts of appeals and state courts of last resort," it says. She is a member of the Missouri and District of Columbia bars.

Hawley is one of the leading lawyers representing plaintiffs in a prominent lawsuit seeking to end the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the abortion drug mifepristone after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a case that Hawley was also involved in.

"I'm so pleased it's a 6-3 decision," she told Axios last year. "The Supreme Court has taken the shackles of Roe off of states."

Vanity Fair reported that reproductive rights activists have raised questions about Erin Morrow Hawley's role in the case. Matthew Kacsmaryk, the judge overseeing the case, donated $500 to her husband in 2018, the magazine reported.

The couple has been married for more than a decade. They have three children.

Update 7/2/23, 12:10 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comments from Kristen Waggoner.