Minn. Videographers Get Big Win in Key Religious Liberty Case

This past Friday marked a significant victory for religious freedom. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down most of a U.S. District Court decision which threatened to force videographers to produce content that violates the commands of their conscience. Instead, the appeals court ruled that a Minnesota anti-discrimination law could very well be unconstitutional and that a challenge to the law could therefore proceed. The appellants, Carl and Angel Larsen, own a videography company called Telescope Media which produces commercial short-films and other video products. They first brought their case forward when they took the Minnesota Human Rights Commissioner

Colorado Baker Secures Another Big Win for Religious Liberty

In a win for religious liberty, the state of Colorado has decided to drop its case against Christian baker Jack Phillips after years of legal hostility. Phillips is the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop and was the leading figure in last summer’s 7-2 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Colorado’s attempt to force him to create a cake for a same-sex wedding. The ruling was a win for both Phillips and religious liberty. Yet, less than a month later, another complaint was filed against him for his refusal to bake a cake that celebrated a transgender transition. The state of Colorado

Colorado Baker Targeted by LGBT Activists Again After Court Win

Colorado baker Jack Phillips won a resounding victory at the Supreme Court earlier this year in a 7-2 decision which upheld his religious freedom. But that hasn’t stopped the so-called Colorado Civil Rights Commission (CCRC) from continuing to harass him. You are probably familiar with the original story: Phillips owns Masterpiece Cakeshop and has served all customers at his bakery without regard to their identity or beliefs. When a same-sex couple asked Phillips to create a custom wedding cake for their ceremony, Phillips respectfully and politely declined because it would go against his deep Christian convictions. The couple filed a

Supreme Court Backs Christian Baker in Gay Wedding Cake Case

Today, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips, a Colorado baker who declined to make a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage ceremony in 2012. The Court’s ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission was 7-2, with Justice Anthony Kennedy writing the majority opinion. The six-year long case pitted religious liberty against anti-discrimination claims, but the Court ultimately sided with Phillips. In 2012, Phillips turned down a request to bake a wedding cake for Charlie Craig and David Mullins on the grounds that doing so would imply support for same-sex marriage and therefore violate his

Will the Supreme Court’s Swing Vote Retire?

Last summer, rumors abounded that Associate Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy would retire, but nothing came of it. Those rumors were given new life as Politico released the audio of a speech made by Senator Dean Heller (R-Nev.) in Las Vegas last week. Heller hopes that a Kennedy retirement would rally his base in a race where his reelection is at best uncertain. “Kennedy is going to retire around sometime early summer. Which I’m hoping will get our base a little motivated because right now they’re not very motivated. But I think a new Supreme Court justice will get them

Will SCOTUS Heed a 182-Year-Old Warning in Wedding Cake Case?

This article is part of a series focusing on Lens of Liberty, a project of the Vernon K. Krieble Foundation. In her Liberty Minute titled “Flocks of Sheep,” Helen Krieble quotes a passage from Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America that is just as pertinent today as it was when it was published in 1835: A hundred and seventy-five years ago, Tocqueville warned Americans about a new kind of oppression from our own government. He said: The government covers the surface of society with a network of small, complicated rules, through which the most original minds and the most energetic

How Will Kennedy Rule? 3 Important Clues from Yesterday’s Wedding Cake Case

Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. This case has enormous religious liberty implications nationwide. You may remember that Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colo., refused to make a custom-made wedding cake for a same-sex couple’s wedding reception in 2012. Even though they were able to find another baker to provide a cake, the couple filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Phillips was ordered to comply with the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, as well as change his company’s policies, provide cakes for same-sex weddings upon request, and

Will Christian Baker’s Supreme Court Case Decide Future of First Amendment?

It strikes one as an episode of the Twilight Zone to think that in the present moral climate, as The Washington Post reports, the Department of Justice would argue in defense of a Christian baker’s right to not bake a cake for a same-sex “wedding.” The enthusiasm to promote same-sex relations and “gay marriage” has reached such hysterical proportions that one seemingly risks censorship for speaking out against them. Merely touch the periphery of the issue and prepare for an onslaught of hateful and bigoted accusations of hate and bigotry. Common Sense, common decency, ethics grounded in the natural law

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