Supreme Court Hands Down Ruling in Masterpiece Cake Case
The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of Jack C. Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakeland, Colorado, who refused to design and create a wedding cake for a celebration of a same-sex marriage saying that a state commission violated the Constitution's protection of religious freedom when it ruled against Phillips. Phillips had claimed that the creation of the cake is artistic expression protected by the First Amendment’s free speech and free exercise of religion clause. The couple and Colorado argued that Phillips’ work on the cake was not expressive conduct according to the law and that the state had a significant interest in preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation. “The neutral and respectful consideration to which Phillips was entitled was compromised here,” Justice Kennedy wrote in the decision. “The Civil Rights Commission’s treatment of his case has some elements of a clear and impermissible hostility toward the sincere religious beliefs that motivated his objection.”
As Summer Starts Maryland Judge Says Restrictions On Boardwalk Performers Unconstitutional
A U.S. district court judge in Maryland ruled that restrictions on street performers in Ocean City is unconstitutional. The decision says the restrictions placed a "substantial burden" on harmless speech.
A Provocative Mural in Louisiana Stirs Artistic Expression Debate
When real estate developer Neal Morris commissioned local street artist Cashy D last November to create a wall mural using a quote from President’s Trump’s Access Hollywood taping, he did not expect the […]
Confederate Statues In Charlottesville Continue to Divide
The debate over the removal of Confederate statues has loomed large over the past five years, met with protests, violence and now a question by the President over whether history is being rewritten.
Court Rules Baring Breasts Not Protected by First Amendment
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that a Chicago ordinance did not violate the First Amendment freedom of speech or the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection […]
Supreme Court Readies to Hear Free Speech Argument on Wedding Cake Case
It has been five years since Jack Phillips said he would not bake a cake the wedding celebration for David Mullins and Charlie Craig. They filed suit arguing that Phillips demeaned them while Phillips says he has a right under the First Amendment to free expression and the government cannot compel him otherwise. This fall, the Supreme Court will hear Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, No. 16-111.