The left is whipping up another misleading pressure campaign against the Supreme Court after it ruled in favor of a Christian business owner's free speech rights. A noted "legal expert" on MSNBC even went so far as to say the decision in the "fake case" should be erased immediately.

Neal Katyal, a former Obama official, repeated the viral claim that plaintiff Lorie Smith had no standing to sue because she had not been asked to serve any gay couples.

Smith, a website designer, objected to creating wedding websites for gay couples. The Supreme Court ruled in Smith's favor, finding Colorado could not, under the First Amendment, force her to express convictions she does not herself hold.

"Fake case"

The decision has led to predictable outrage and fresh attacks on the court's legitimacy from the left. Many have seized on reports that the request Smith received came from a married man who is not gay.

The man has confirmed that he did not request a website from Smith, and Smith herself has suggested it may have come from a "troll."

Katyal told MSNBC's Velshi that the case should be "stricken from the books" because it did not involve a real controversy.

"The U.S. Supreme Court is bound by our Founders in Article Three that says you have to have an actual case or controversy in order to go to the United States Supreme Court and seek relief. Here it’s a fake case according to the story," Katyal said.

"There is no controversy. This person never wanted to be involved in this in any way shape or form."

Fake talking point

Despite Katyal's confident assertions, the notion that Smith lacked standing is not supported in fact.

Writing for the majority, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch noted that a lower court, despite ruling against Smith, agreed that she had standing because she was likely to face enforcement under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. Gorsuch noted that "no party challenges these conclusions."

Here's Gorsuch passage summarizing standing analysis by Tenth Circuit panel (which ruled against 303 Creative on merits) and observing "no party challenges these conclusions."

Gorsuch of course knows that objections to standing can't be waived .... 1/ pic.twitter.com/jj7mpEFaL2

— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) July 3, 2023

One would have to be living under a rock for 10 years to conclude that Smith's fears of persecution were unfounded. The infamous Masterpiece Cakeshop case - which Smith cited - made clear the lengths Colorado would go to harass Christians in the name of "equality."

The real purpose of all of this phony outrage over standing is, as always, to attack the legitimacy of a ruling leftists disagree with. What else is new?