Colorados Supreme Court dismisses suit against baker who wouldnt make cake for transgender woman
Colorado’s Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed on procedural grounds a lawsuit against a Christian baker who refused to bake a cake for a transgender woman.Justices declined to weigh in on the free speech issues that brought the case national attention.Baker Jack Phillips was sued by attorney Autumn Scardina in 2017 after his Denver-area bakery refused to make a pink cake with blue frosting to celebrate her gender transition.Justices said in the 6-3 majority opinion that Scardina had not exhausted her options to seek redress through another court before filing her lawsuit.“We express no view on the merits of these claims,” Justice Melissa Hart wrote for the majority.Phillips’ attorney, Jake Warner with the Arizona-based firm Alliance for Defending Freedom, had argued before the high court that the baker’s actions were protected free speech and that whatever Scardina said she was going to do with the cake mattered for his rights.Warner said Tuesday that his client had been pursued and mocked for years by those who disagreed with him.“Enough is enough,“ Warner said.
”Jack has been dragged through courts for over a decade.It’s time to leave him alone.”Scardina’s attorney, John McHugh, expressed disappointment and said he was evaluating if there were any remaining legal options.“The Colorado Supreme Court decided to avoid the merits of this issue by inventing an argument no party raised,” McHugh said.The justices in the minority faulted the ruling and said it gave Phillips “a procedural pass.” They noted that every factfinder and judicial officer who heard the case concluded the baker’s conduct violated the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act.The dissenters also said they were concerned that Phillips would construe the ruling as a vindication.However, Hart wrote that nothing in the ruling alters protections under the anti-discrimination law.The case was among several in Colorado pitting LGBTQ+ civil rights against First Amendment rights.
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