YUGE WIN! Supreme Court Just Made Final Ruling – Liberals Are PISSED!
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A wedding cake is not just a cake in a Free Speech analysis. It is the artistic expression of the person making it that is to be used traditionally as a centerpiece in the celebration of a marriage. While the state of Colorado disagreed with this assessment, it seems the Supreme Court does not concur.
The Supreme Court issues a limited ruling on Monday on a Lakewood baker named Jack Phillips. Phillips is the owner of Masterpiece Bakery and he refused to make a wedding cake for a same-s*x couple stating his religious beliefs did not allow him to be an active participant in an act his faith teaches is wrong. It was his contention that because of the first amendment, Phillips’ religious objections did not violate Colorado’s anti-discrimination law.
The court declined to rule on the big issue of this case which would potentially decide whether or not a business can invoke religious objections to refuse service to gay and lesbian people. The Supreme Court justices instead issued a limited ruling addressing what the court described as the significant anti-religious bias on the Colorado Civil Rights Commission when it ruled against Phillips.
According to Colorado’s local Fox News affiliate KDVR – “The justices voted 7-2 that the commission violated Phillips’ rights under the First Amendment.
Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his majority opinion that the issue “must await further elaboration.”
Appeals in similar cases are pending, including one at the Supreme Court from a florist who didn’t want to provide flowers for a same-s*x wedding.
The same-s*x couple at the heart of the case, Charlie Craig and David Mullins, complained to the Colorado commission in 2012 after they visited Phillips’ Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood and the baker quickly told them he would not create a cake for a same-s*x wedding.
Colorado law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and the commission concluded that Phillips’ refusal violated the law. Colorado state courts upheld the determination.
But when the justices heard arguments in December, Kennedy was plainly bothered by comments by a commission member.
The commissioner seemed “neither tolerant nor respectful of Mr. Phillips’ religious beliefs,” Kennedy said then.
That same sentiment suffused his opinion on Monday.
“The commission’s hostility was inconsistent with the First Amendment’s guarantee that our laws be applied in a manner that is neutral toward religion,” he wrote.
Liberal justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan joined the conservative justices in the outcome. Kagan wrote separately to emphasize the limited ruling.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented.
In a statement issued after the ruling, Phillips’ Supreme Court lawyer praised the decision.
“Government hostility toward people of faith has no place in our society, yet the state of Colorado was openly antagonistic toward Jack’s religious beliefs about marriage. The court was right to condemn that,” said Kristen Waggoner, the Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel who argued Phillips’ case.
Waggoner said Phillips is willing to sell ready-made products to anyone who enters his store. But, “he simply declines to express messages or celebrate events that violate his deeply held beliefs,” she said.”
Of further issue and still an outstanding concern regarding that of religious freedom and freedom of expression has yet to be decided, however. The issue of whether America has even the pretense of freedom in a country whose very foundation is rooted in religious freedom and freedom of speech.
For businesses to conduct themselves in a manner contrary to their religious beliefs in a country founded on religious freedom is contradictory to our founding principles. Pick a position…either a private business has the ability to conduct itself in a manner consistent with freedom or it does not and if it does not? Just rename the United States of America and call it North Korea and get it over with. Your “free” country is d**d.
Craig and Mullins were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union in their legal fight against Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop stated of the limited decision it was pleased the court did not endorse a broad religion-based exemption from anti-discrimination laws.
Louise Melling, the ACLU’s deputy legal director stated – “The court reversed the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision based on concerns unique to the case but reaffirmed its longstanding rule that states can prevent the harms of discrimination in the marketplace, including against LGBT people.