Artistic Expression

Supreme Court Readies to Hear Free Speech Argument on Wedding Cake Case

Jack Phillips
Colorado baker Jack Phillips. Photo courtesy of Alliance Defending Freedom.

This fall, the Supreme Court will hear Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, No. 16-111 which revolves around the right of cake master, Jack Phillips, to deny a gay couple, David Mullins and Charlie Craig, a wedding cake for their nuptials. Over the course of five years, the case has been debated in the courts with the Justice Department recently filing a brief  in favor of Jack Phillips, “Just as the government may not compel the dissemination of expression, it equally may not compel the creation of expression. Compelling a creative process is no less an intrusion — and perhaps is a greater one — on the ‘individual freedom of mind’ that the First Amendment protects.” The Supreme Court has ruled in previous cases, including Wooley v. Maynard, that “the government may not compel people to convey messages that they do not believe.” Mullins and Craig in their civil suit argue that they had been “demeaned and humiliated as they sought to celebrate their union.”

New York Times Washington Times The Hill Case Link Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, No. 16-111 Case Link Wooley v. Maynard

 


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