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☆ Colorado court dismisses suit against baker who wouldn't make transgender-themed cake
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-09 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Lower courts in Colorado had concluded that Masterpiece Cakeshop and the bakery’s owner, Jack Phillips, had violated Autumn Scardina’s rights by refusing to make her a pink cake with blue frosting because of her identity as a transgender woman. Scardina had initially filed a discrimination complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Division after Phillips refused to make the cake she wanted to order to celebrate her birthday and her identity as a transgender woman. Justice Melissa Hart, writing for the majority, said Scardina should have challenged that decision in an appeals court, rather than file a new lawsuit. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 ruled in Phillips’ favor but on narrow grounds that avoided setting a major precedent allowing people to claim religious exemptions from anti-discrimination laws. But in June 2023, in a case billed as a sort of sequel, the 6-3 conservative majority U.S. Supreme Court held the First Amendment protected web designer Lorie Smith from being compelled by Colorado to provide services to same-sex weddings.

Persons: Jack Phillips, Phillips, Scardina, Melissa Hart, Richard Gabriel, ”, construe, John McHugh, Scardina’s, ” Scardina, Phillips ’, Lorie Smith Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Colorado Supreme, Colorado Anti, Colorado Civil Rights, Defending, Colorado Civil, Phillips Locations: Colorado

☆ LGBT rights yield to religious interests at US Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( John Kruzel | Industry Insight | Corporate Attorneys Don T Want To Pay Law Firms For Chatgpt When They Could Use It Themselves | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"We've seen a dramatic expansion of rights for conservative religious communities that has had a detrimental impact on equality rights, certainly for LGBTQ people," said Elizabeth Platt, director of the Law, Rights and Religion Project at Columbia Law School. Smith, who said she opposes gay marriage based on her Christian beliefs, was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative religious rights group. Still, the ruling illustrated a disparity in how the court views protections for LGBT people in contrast to the competing conservative Christian interests, Platt said. He stood out among conservatives in his espousal of sympathy both for conservative Christian causes and for what is sometimes called the "dignity interests" of marginalized groups including LGBT people. Barrett's addition gave it a 6-3 conservative margin and recalibrated how it weighed conservative Christian causes against the dignity interests of people protected by civil rights laws.

Persons: Read, Lorie Smith, Smith, Elizabeth Platt, Kristen Waggoner, Waggoner, Jack Phillips, Phillips, Platt, Anthony Kennedy, Brett Kavanaugh, Trump's, Neil Gorsuch, Friday's, Amy Coney Barrett, Kennedy, Kennedy's, Hodges, Obergefell, Barrett, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Barrett's, Rachel Laser, John Kruzel, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Law, Columbia Law School . Colorado, Alliance Defending, Defending, Colorado Civil Rights Commission, FOSTER CARE, Catholic Church, Philadelphia, Republican, Trump, Americans United, and State, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, Denver, Colorado, U.S, Fulton, City of Philadelphia, Obergefell

☆ Supreme Court rules for web designer who refused to work on same-sex weddings
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Lawrence Hurley | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Web designer Lorie Smith, plaintiff in a Supreme Court case who objects to same-sex marriage, poses for a portrait at her office in Littleton, Colorado, U.S., November 28, 2022. The Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favor of an evangelical Christian web designer from Colorado who refuses to work on same-sex weddings. The remaining 21 states do not have laws explicitly protecting LGBTQ rights in public accommodations, although some local municipalities do. Lower courts ruled against Smith, prompting her to appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled on the baker case before the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who voted in favor of LGBTQ rights in key cases.

Persons: Lorie Smith, Colorado's, Neil Gorsuch, Smith, Samuel Alito, —, Jack Phillips, Eric Olson, Phillips, Anthony Kennedy, Donald Trump, Kennedy, — Organizations: Klux Klan, NBC News, Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Supreme, Civil Rights Commission, Alliance Defending, Catholic Church Locations: Littleton , Colorado, U.S, Colorado, United States, Philadelphia

☆ The Decision in 303 Creative Deals a Blow to Anti-Discrimination Law - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Lily Moore-Eissenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

I now see that my family’s experience with the Twelve Tribes was part of a larger social problem that anti-discrimination laws have long sought to address: the problem of public discrimination perpetrated by private actors. Still, my family’s experience of discrimination helped me understand why anti-discrimination laws for businesses are so important. Public accommodations laws have been on the books since the 19th century; in the 20th century, they served as shields against racial segregation. Public accommodations laws will most likely face more speech-based challenges. We shouldn’t underestimate the symbolic power of contesting discrimination in public accommodations.

Persons: Laws, “ Organizations: Colorado Anti, Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Creative Locations: Colorado

The case, though framed as clash between free speech and gay rights, was the latest in a series of decisions in favor of religious people and groups, notably conservative Christians. A Colorado law forbids discrimination against gay people by businesses open to the public as well as statements announcing such discrimination. But when the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, 303 Creative L.L.C. He was the author of every major Supreme Court decision protecting gay rights under the Constitution. But he was also the court’s most ardent defender of free speech.

Persons: Neil M, Gorsuch, Lorie Smith, Smith, Smith’s, Mary Beck Briscoe, Judge Briscoe, “, ” Judge Briscoe, Timothy M, Tymkovich, George Orwell, ’ ”, ”, Anthony M, Kennedy, Justice Kennedy, Jack Phillips, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Brett M, Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett Organizations: Supreme, U.S ., Appeals, Circuit, Colorado Civil Rights Commission Locations: Colorado, Denver, “ Colorado

☆ Colorado baker loses appeal over transgender birthday cake
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The Colorado baker who won a partial U.S. Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight, involving his rejection of a request for a birthday cake celebrating a gender transition. The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that that the cake Autumn Scardina requested from Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop, which was to be pink with blue frosting, is not a form of speech. Scardina, an attorney, attempted to order her cake on the same day in 2017 that the Supreme Court announced it would hear Phillips’ appeal in the wedding cake case. Phillips then filed a federal lawsuit against Colorado, accusing it of a “crusade to crush” him by pursuing the complaint. In March 2019, lawyers for the state and Phillips agreed to drop both cases under a settlement Scardina was not involved in.

☆ Supreme Court case on same-sex marriage could allow LGBTQ discrimination
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Caroline Mala Corbin | Caroline Mala Corbin Is A Professor Of Law | Dean S Distinguished Scholar At The University Of Miami School Of Law. She Is A First Amendment Expert Who Has | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

Does a website design company have a First Amendment right to discriminate against same-sex couples? But the Supreme Court reached no conclusion on the free speech claim and instead ruled in favor of the bakery on narrow religious grounds. The challenge here is how to classify 303 Creative’s making or refusing to make a website for same-sex couples. If so, it does not trigger, never mind violate, the free speech clause. It would extend to companies that oppose it for nonreligious reasons but can argue that providing their speech-based services to same-sex couples compelled them to express a message of support for that marriage.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday hears the latest clash between religious conservatives and LGBTQ rights as it weighs a conservative evangelical Christian web designer's bid to avoid working on same-sex weddings. Lower courts ruled against Smith, prompting her to appeal to the Supreme Court. The remaining 21 states do not have laws explicitly protecting LGBTQ rights in public accommodations, although some local municipalities do. The court ruled on the baker case before the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who voted in favor of LGBTQ rights in key cases. In another major victory for LGBTQ rights, the Supreme Court in 2020 — to the surprise of many court-watchers — ruled that a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in employment protects LGBTQ employees.

Lower courts ruled against Smith, prompting her to appeal to the Supreme Court. The remaining 21 states do not have laws explicitly protecting LGBTQ rights in public accommodations, although some local municipalities do. Alliance Defending Freedom, which also represented Phillips, has had success arguing religious rights cases at the Supreme Court in recent years. The court ruled on the baker case before the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who voted in favor of LGBTQ rights in key cases. In another major victory for LGBTQ rights, the Supreme Court in 2020, to the surprise of many court-watchers, ruled that a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in employment protects LGBTQ employees.

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