1、CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Masterpiece Cakeshop: Proving Government Hostility to Religion June 5, 2018 On June 4, 2018, the Supreme Court released its much-anticipated decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.
2、 The case presented a dispute between the State of Colorado and a baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding. The state argued that this refusal violated its laws prohibiting businesses that serve the public, known as places of public accommodation, from discriminating on certai
3、n protected grounds, including sexual orientation. The baker had argued that the states enforcement of its anti-discrimination laws violated his First Amendment rights of free speech and free exercise of religion. While much of the briefing before the Court focused on the bakers free speech claims,
4、the Court, in a 7-2 ruling authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy, ultimately ruled for the baker on free exercise grounds. In so doing, the Court avoided many of the most difficult issues presented by the free speech claims, such as whether making a cake can be deemed to be an expressive activity prot
