No. 16-______ ================================================================ In The Supreme Court of the United States --------------------------------- --------------------------------- DONALD WELCH, ANTHONY DUK, AARON BITZER, Petitioners, v. EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, et al., Respondents. --------------------------------- --------------------------------- On Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit --------------------------------- --------------------------------- PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI --------------------------------- --------------------------------- KEVIN T. S NIDER Counsel of Record MATTHEW B. MCREYNOLDS PACIFIC JUSTICE INSTITUTE PO Box 276600 Sacramento, CA 95827 Phone: (916) 857-6900 Fax: (916) 857-6902 E-mail:
[email protected] Attorneys for Petitioners ================================================================ COCKLE LEGAL BRIEFS (800) 225-6964 WWW.COCKLELEGALBRIEFS.COM i QUESTIONS PRESENTED The State of California now prohibits mental health providers from offering “sexual orientation change efforts” (SOCE) to minors. In so doing, the en- acting legislation (Senate Bill 1172) and the legislative history made repeated references to the religious mo- tivations of SOCE seekers and providers, and the Legislature noted that SOCE includes religious conver- sion, prayer and spiritual intervention. The text of the law does not explicitly refer to religion. Instead, the law states that “under no circumstances shall a mental health