The U.S. Supreme Court just handed a major victory to the owners of a now-closedย Oregon bakeryย that refused to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple.
โTheย U.S. Supreme Courtย on Monday threw out a lower court ruling against the owners of an Oregon bakery who refused based on their Christian beliefs to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple,” Reuters reports.
Theย justices sent the case back to the Oregon Court of Appeals so it can take a second look at its ruling against the bakery in light of the Supreme Courtโs June 2018 ruling in a strikingly similar case from Colorado.โ
Some in the media is presenting this as a loss for the bakery, but it’s a win.
The Supreme Court Expects the Lower Court to Rule with the Bakery Owners
The Justices are talking about the Masterpiece Cakeshop case. They expect the lower court to see religious neutrality was violated as was the case of the Masterpiece Cakeshop.
Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, a bakery in Lakewood, Colorado, refused to provide a wedding cake to a gay couple based on the owner’s religious beliefs. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission, evaluating the case under the state’s anti-discrimination law, the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, found that the bakery had discriminated against the couple and issued specific orders for the bakery to follow. Following appeals within the state that affirmed the Commission’s decision, the bakery took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a 7-2 decision, the Court ruled on narrow grounds that the Commission did not employ religious neutrality, violating Masterpiece owner Jack Phillips’ rights to free exercise, and reversed the Commission’s decision.
โThe commissionโs hostility was inconsistent with the First Amendmentโs guarantee that our laws be applied in a manner that is neutral toward religion,โ Justice Anthony Kennedy said in the majority opinion on the Colorado cake case.
THE BACKGROUND
The Oregon bakery owners, Melissa and Aaron Klein, filed the petition on First Amendment grounds.
The Kleins seek to overturn an Oregon State Order that awarded $135,000 in emotional damages to the couple they turned away.
The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries imposed the fine in 2015 after finding the Kleins had violated a state anti-discrimination law. An Oregon appeals court upheld the order, and the Oregon Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
THEY ARE LEFTISTS AND COULD IGNORE THE SUPREME COURT
The court could still rule against the Kleins and ignore the Supreme Court case.
Leftists will continue to violate the law and keep bullying until they win.
Leftists and allied media prepare to attack Supreme Court if it loses The Leftist assault on the rule law is never-ending. https://t.co/A4P11FF2lh
โ Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) June 16, 2019
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