The Supreme Court on Monday kicked back to the lower court a case involving Oregon bakery owners, in a move that leaves unanswered whether a business owner can refuse services to LGBT people because of their closely held religious beliefs.
In an unsigned order with no noted dissents, the justices told the lower court to revisit the case involving the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, which was fined $135,000 for declining to make a cake for a same-sex wedding due to their religious beliefs, in light of its 2018 ruling in a similar dispute involving a Colorado baker.
The Supreme Court sidestepped that question during its last term, which ended in June 2018, when it took up a case involving Denver baker Jack Phillips. In that case, the court ruled narrowly in favor of Phillips and found the Colorado Civil Rights Commission was hostile to Phillips’ faith and failed to act neutrally toward his religion.
Kelly Shackelford, president of First Liberty Institute, which is representing the bakery owners, praised the decision by the Supreme Court as a win for them and “for religious liberty for all Americans.”
“The Constitution protects speech, popular or not, from condemnation by the government,” he said in a statement. “The message from the court is clear, government hostility toward religious Americans will not be tolerated.”
The Oregon dispute involves Melissa and Aaron Klein, who owned Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham, Ore., and sold custom-made cakes.
In January 2013, Rachel Cryer and Laurel Bowman sought to have a wedding cake made by the Kleins for their same-sex wedding. When Cryer and her mother went to Sweet Cakes by Melissa for a cake tasting that month, Aaron Klein informed them that due to their religious beliefs, they could not create the cake.
Cryer and Bowman then filed complaints with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. The Kleins were accused of violating Oregon’s public accommodations law, which bars the denial of “full and equal accommodations, advantage, facilities and privileges of any kind” based on sexual orientation.
The bureau subsequently ordered the Kleins to pay $135,000 in damages to Cryer and Bowman.
The Kleins, however, argued their First Amendment rights had been violated because they were forced to design and make cakes for same-sex weddings, which go against their religious beliefs.
The Oregon Court of Appeals upheld the bureau’s order in favor of Cryer and Bowman, as well as the $135,000 fine.
The Kleins were asking the Supreme Court to review the lower court’s ruling and determine whether the state violated their First Amendment rights by compelling them to create a cake for a same-sex wedding in violation of their religious beliefs.
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling legalizing gay marriage, florists, bakers, photographers, and other business owners nationwide have been embroiled in legal disputes after refusing wedding services to same-sex couples because of their religious beliefs.
Because of state laws that require businesses to serve customers regardless of sexual orientation, courts often rule against the business owners.
