Colorado’s Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed on procedural grounds a lawsuit against a Christian baker who refused to make a cake for a transgender woman. The judges refused to consider free speech issues, which brought the case national attention.
Baker Jack Phillips was sued by attorney Autumn Scardina in 2017 after her Denver-area bakery refused to make a pink cake with blue frosting to celebrate her gender transition.
The justices said in a 6-3 majority opinion that Scardina had not exhausted her options to seek redress through another court before filing her suit.
Justice Melissa Hart wrote for the majority, “We express no view on the merits of these claims.”
Phillips’ attorney, Jake Warner of the Arizona-based firm Alliance for Defending Freedom, had argued before the high court that the baker’s actions were protected free speech and that Scardina said she was going to do whatever she wanted with the cake. Yes, he cared about her rights.
Warner said Tuesday that his client was harassed and ridiculed for years by people who disagreed with him.
Warner said, “Enough is enough.” Jack has been dragged through the courts for more than a decade. It’s time to leave him alone.”
Scardina’s attorney, John McHugh, expressed disappointment and said he was evaluating whether any legal options remained.
McHugh said, “The Colorado Supreme Court decided to avoid the merits of the issue by inventing an argument that neither side raised.”
A minority of justices faulted the decision, saying it gave Phillips “a procedural pass”. He noted that every fact-finder and judicial officer who heard the case concluded that Baker’s conduct violated the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act.
Dissidents also said they were worried that Phillips would regard the decision as vindication.
However, Hart wrote that nothing in the decision changes protections under anti-discrimination law.
The case was one of several in Colorado pitting LGBTQ+ civil rights against First Amendment rights. In 2018, Phillips won a partial victory before the US Supreme Court after refusing to make a cake for a gay couple’s wedding.
The case dismissed Tuesday drew the attention of several attorneys general from Republican-led states, who submitted a joint statement in support of Phillips.
Scardina’s position was supported by advocacy groups, who warned that any finding of First Amendment violation would undermine Colorado’s ban on discrimination.
Scardina attempted to order her cake the same day the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear Phillips’ appeal of the wedding cake case. Scardina said she wanted to challenge Phillips’ claims that it would serve LGBTQ+ customers and denied her effort to obtain the cake was ready for litigation.
Before filing her lawsuit, Scardina filed a complaint against Phillips with the state and the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which found probable cause that he had discriminated against her.
In March 2019, attorneys for the state and Phillips agreed to drop both cases under a settlement that did not involve Scardina. She pursued the lawsuit against Philips and Masterpiece Cakeshop on her own.
That’s when the case took a wrong turn, the judges said in Tuesday’s ruling. Scardina should have challenged the state’s settlement with Phillips directly in the state appeals court, he said.
Instead, it went to a state judge, who ruled in 2021 that Phillips had violated state anti-discrimination law by refusing to make the cake for Scardina. The judge said the case was one of refusal to sell a product, not forced speech.
The Colorado Court of Appeals also sided with Scardina, ruling that the pink and blue cake – on which Scardina had not requested any writing – was not speech protected by the First Amendment.
(TagstoTranslate)US News(T)Bakery(T)Colorado(T)Supreme Court(T)Transgender
