Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Comm'n

Background

Jack Phillips is a Colorado baker who in 2012 refused to create a custom wedding cake for a same-sex couple because of his Christian religious beliefs. The couple filed a complaint under Colorado’s anti-discrimination law. A state administrative judge and then the Colorado Civil Rights Commission and Court of Appeals ruled against the baker and ordered him to stop discriminating and to comply with training and reporting requirements. Phillips appealed to the Supreme Court.

Reasoning

The Supreme Court addressed whether the Commission’s actions violated the Free Exercise Clause. The Court agreed that public-accommodation laws can protect gay people, but said officials must be neutral toward religion. The Court found that some commissioners made hostile remarks about religion—calling religious objections despicable and likening them to defenses of slavery and the Holocaust—and that the Commission treated Phillips differently from other bakers who had declined to make cakes with anti-gay messages. Those factors showed impermissible hostility to Phillips’ sincere religious beliefs, so the Court held the Commission violated the Free Exercise Clause and set aside its order.

Real world impact

The ruling requires that state agencies consider religious objections neutrally when enforcing anti-discrimination laws and forbids official disparagement of religious beliefs. The decision overturned the Colorado enforcement order against Phillips but did not settle all questions about when a business may refuse service on religious or speech grounds. Future cases with different facts may reach different results.

Dissents or concurrances

Several Justices wrote separate opinions: some concurred to emphasize religious neutrality and free exercise concerns; others urged broader free-speech protections; one dissenting opinion would have affirmed the Colorado court.