ICC Note: As previously reported, Jack Phillips, baker at Masterpiece Cakeshop, has been in the middle of a discrimination legal battle since 2012 when he declined to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. The case eventually reached the Supreme Court and, according to Alliance Defending Freedom, arguments will be heard on December 5. This case holds great significance regarding religious liberty in the public sphere and will play a key role in setting the precedent for similar cases in years to come.
By Stoyan Zaimov
10/09/2017 United States (Christian Post) – The nonprofit law firm backing Jack Phillips, the Christian baker at the center of what has been described as “one of the most important U.S. Supreme Court cases of our lifetimes,” has revealed that oral hearings are set for December.
“The Supreme Court has set oral arguments for Masterpiece Cakeshop for Tuesday, December 5th,” Alliance Defending Freedom wrote in a Facebook update on Friday.
The case concerns the First Amendment rights of Phillips, the Christian baker who was found guilty by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission in 2014 for discriminating against same-sex couple Dave Mullins and Charlie Craig in 2012, when he refused to make a cake for their wedding.
As ADF explains on its website, Phillips has also refused to make Halloween cakes and other items that do not align with his beliefs. His decision not to serve gay weddings has reached the nation’s highest court, however.
“In America, artistic expression shouldn’t be subject to government control. Jack’s case, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, is an example of what happens when the government gets into the ideology business and begins to punish private citizens if they don’t share and celebrate the same beliefs as the state,” ADF positioned.
“Now the Supreme Court must decide — does the First Amendment protect Jack’s artistic freedom, a principle the high court has long defended, or not?”
The conservative law group has argued that the Supreme Court’s decision in 2015 to redefine marriage to include gay couples does not mean freedom can also be redefined.
