Melissa and Aaron Klein, the Christian owners of a bakery in Oregon called “Sweet Cakes by Melissa” were thrown into a legal and media maelstrom several years ago when they declined to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple.
They were ultimately ordered to pay over $100,000 to the couple and closed the bakery as a result.
The U.S. Supreme Court just threw out the ruling against them.
Ronn Blitzer reports at FOX News:
Supreme Court tosses ruling against bakers who refused cake for gay coupleThe Supreme Court on Monday threw out a ruling against two Oregon bakers who refused to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian couple.The couple, Melissa and Aaron Klein, cited religious beliefs as their reason for not providing services for a gay wedding. This touched off the latest in a series of such cases making headlines in recent years. During the court’s last term, justices ruled in favor of a Colorado baker in a similar situation, stating that a state body demonstrated improper hostility toward the baker’s religion in finding that he violated a state anti-discrimination law.On Monday, the Supreme Court sent the Klein case back down to a lower court “for further consideration in light of” their Colorado decision.The central disputes in the case — which pits LGBT rights against religious freedom considerations — have yet to be addressed by the Supreme Court.
The group representing them sees this as a win:
“This is a victory for Aaron and Melissa Klein and for religious liberty for all Americans,” First Liberty president Kelly Shackelford said in a statement. “The Constitution protects speech, popular or not, from condemnation by the government. The message from the Court is clear, government hostility toward religious Americans will not be tolerated.”
Here’s an image of the order:
As we recently reported, Masterpiece Cake Shop in Colorado is now being sued for a third time.
Paul Bois of the Daily Wire explains where the Oregon case goes from here:
Going forward, a lower court will now determine if the Kleins were indeed subject to unfair hostility when the state of Oregon ordered them to pay a hefty $135,000 fine for allegedly discriminating against a lesbian couple that wanted them to bake a cake for their wedding. If a similar case out of Washington provides any indication, the lower court might rule that the Kleins were treated impartially by the Oregon justice system, forcing the couple to continue fighting for a definitive ruling by the Supreme Court.
Featured image via YouTube.
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