Colorado Cakebaker’s Court Saga Ends In Victory
Written by on October 30, 2024
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It appears that Jack Phillips’s long legal battle for the freedom to live out his Christian faith at his place of business has finally come to a close.
Phillips, who owns Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado, was accused of discrimination in 2012. Two same-sex partners made a complaint to the Colorado Civil Rights Commission about Phillips after he declined to design and bake a cake to celebrate their planned same-sex “wedding.” After the Commission found in favor of the plaintiffs, Phillips appealed the decision all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 584 U.S. 617 (2018), the Court held that the Commission had violated Phillips’s First Amendment rights by exhibiting hostility toward his religious beliefs.
Unfortunately, however, Phillips’s legal battles did not end with the 2018 decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop. In 2017, a “transgender” person asked Phillips to design and bake a cake to celebrate that person’s gender transition. Phillips declined, the customer complained to the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, and the Commission filed a complaint of discrimination against Phillips once again in 2018. (Phillips was also subjected to objectionable customer requests, including requests for cakes with obscene sexual imagery and/or Satanic themes; he believes that the “transgender” customer was behind those requests as well.) When the Commission entered into a confidential settlement with Phillips, the ”transgender” customer sued him.
On October 8, 2024, the Colorado Court of Appeals dismissed the “transgender” customer’s lawsuit against Phillips on procedural grounds. Phillips’s attorney, Chief Legal Counsel Jim Campbell of Alliance Defending Freedom, commented that the court’s decision “‘is the final word on this case.’” Campbell added that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, 600 U.S. 570 (2023) gave additional protection to Phillips and other Christian businessowners. In 303 Creative, the Court held that attempts to use nondiscrimination laws to compel businesspersons to express messages that violate their religious beliefs are unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
Jack Phillips’s lengthy legal battle has cost him plenty.
“The state ruled that if I’m going to be in the wedding business, I have to change my practices and serve to gay couples as well,” Phillips chagrined. “They took 40 percent of my business away.”
Aside from the bleak balance sheet, Phillips said he and his family have been living in constant fear and have received death threats.
In an interview with WORLD, Phillips stated that he had been inspired by the support and prayers offered by other Christians during his 12 years of court battles. Jim Campbell added, “‘It’s just not fair for 12 years of Jack’s life to be distracted by all of this. But on the flip side, it’s been encouraging to watch Jack. Jack’s faith is unlike a faith that I have seen before, and that’s not hyperbole. I’ve never met someone like Jack. Jack does not worry. He’s not frightened. He’s not fearful. He has faith in the Lord to walk him through difficult places, and that has encouraged my faith.’”
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