A long-running legal battle takes an unexpected turn in the Centennial State.
According to Fox News, The Colorado Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit against Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips.
The case, which accused Phillips of discriminating against a transgender attorney by refusing to bake a cake celebrating their gender transition, was thrown out on technical grounds.
This dismissal marks the latest chapter in a series of legal challenges faced by Phillips over the past 12 years. The Christian baker has been at the center of multiple lawsuits regarding his refusal to create custom cakes that conflict with his religious beliefs.
Jake Warner, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the legal group representing Phillips, expressed relief at the decision. Warner emphasized the toll these legal battles have taken on Phillips, stating that it's time for the harassment to end.
While the Colorado Supreme Court did not issue an opinion on Phillips' First Amendment rights, it dismissed the case due to a technicality in how the plaintiff, Autumn Scardina, filed the lawsuit.
Justice Melissa Hart, writing for the majority, acknowledged the broader implications of the case. The court's decision to sidestep the constitutional question leaves the broader issue unresolved, potentially setting the stage for future legal battles on similar grounds.
Phillips' legal troubles began in 2012 when he was first sued for refusing to bake a custom cake for a same-sex wedding. That case eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Phillips prevailed in 2018.
Interestingly, on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Phillips' initial case, Scardina contacted Masterpiece Cakeshop requesting a custom cake to celebrate a gender transition. When Phillips declined, Scardina made a second request for a cake featuring Satan smoking marijuana, purportedly to "correct the errors of [Phillips'] thinking."
ADF contends that Phillips serves customers from all backgrounds but reserves the right to decline to create custom cakes that express messages conflicting with his core beliefs.
Warner from ADF emphasized the importance of free speech protections for artists like Phillips. He referenced the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in the 303 Creative case, which affirmed that the government cannot compel artists to express messages they don't believe in.
Warner stated:
Free speech is for everyone. As the U.S. Supreme Court held in 303 Creative, the government cannot force artists to express messages they don't believe. In this case, an attorney demanded that Jack create a custom cake that would celebrate and symbolize a transition from male to female. Because that cake admittedly expresses a message, and because Jack cannot express that message for anyone, the government cannot punish Jack for declining to express it. The First Amendment protects that decision.
The Colorado Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit against Christian baker Jack Phillips for refusing to bake a cake celebrating a gender transition. The decision was based on a technicality rather than addressing the underlying constitutional issues. This case underscores the ongoing debate between religious freedom and anti-discrimination laws in the United States, leaving the door open for future legal challenges in this contentious area.
