We told you earlier this year that despite Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop winning in the Supreme Court, the state of Colorado is going after him again on the basis of gender-discrimination:
An attorney [Autumn Scardina] asked Phillips to create a cake designed pink on the inside and blue on the outside, which the attorney said was to celebrate a gender transition from male to female. Phillips declined the request because the custom cake would have expressed messages about sex and gender identity that conflict with his religious beliefs.
Phillip’s is suing to stop this madness and now a judge has decided to allow Phillips’ lawsuit against the Colorado Civil Rights Division to go forward:
ABC 7 – Attorneys for a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple on religious grounds – a stand partially upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court – argued in federal court Tuesday that the state is punishing him again over his refusal to bake a cake celebrating a gender transition.
Lawyers for Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in suburban Denver, are suing to try to stop the state from taking action against him over the new discrimination allegation. They say the state is treating Phillips with hostility because of his Christian faith and pressing a complaint that they call an “obvious setup.”
“At this point, he’s just a guy who is trying to get back to life. The problem is the state of Colorado won’t let him,” Jim Campbell, an attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, said after the hearing. The conservative Christian nonprofit law firm is representing Phillips.
Colorado wants Phillips’ case against them dismissed:
State officials argued for the case to be dismissed, but the judge said he was inclined to let the case move forward and would issue a written ruling later.
Attorney General Cynthia Coffman says the case should be dismissed because of state efforts to enforce its order against Phillips. A state hearing is scheduled for February to determine what will happen next.
Deputy Attorney General LeeAnn Morrill told Senior Judge Wiley Y. Daniel that the commission did not mention religion in its latest finding against Phillips. She said the commission also has used the state’s anti-discrimination law to protect people who have faced bias because of their faith.
The judge said he thought the Supreme Court’s ruling had more relevance in the current case than the state acknowledged and quoted from the justices’ opinions during the hearing. He mentioned now-retired Justice Anthony Kennedy’s conclusion that the commission had shown “hostility” toward religion.
Wiley said he would have to hear evidence before deciding whether to temporarily block state proceedings.
It sounds like the judge might be angling to side with the Supreme Court in his eventual ruling, which is a good sign for Phillips, who is only seeking $100,000 in damages. I hope the judge awards him ten times that amount in his eventual ruling.