Again and Again
The Colorado Supreme Court agreed to hear the case against Christian cake baker Jack Phillips, which he says is the "light at the end of the tunnel" after more than 11 years in court.
Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado, declined to create a custom cake for a same-sex wedding in a move that sparked a 2012 lawsuit that ultimately landed him at the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2018, the nine justices ruled that the state of Colorado was hostile to Phillip’s religious beliefs and that the government can’t force anyone to create custom works of art that communicate a message.
However in that very same year - 2018, Phillips faced a second lawsuit, this time from a transgender lawyer who requested a cake celebrating a gender transition. When Phillips declined, he was back in court on grounds that he discriminated against the lawyer. The Colorado Supreme Court just agreed to hear his case.
"I hope it is the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m pretty excited about it," Phillips told Fox News Digital in an interview. "The state court turned us down in our first case, but I think they realize now that I serve everybody."
"This case is not who I serve, but it’s always the what I’m going to create not the who that’s asking for it. And I hope they get that right this time," said Phillips.
Jake Warner, attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) defending Phillips, said that the lawsuit from the beginning was "clearly a set-up" with the intent of "targeting" Phillips and his beliefs.
In 2018, Autumn Scardina, who identifies as transgender, asked Phillips to make a cake celebrating a gender transition – pink on the inside, blue on the outside. When Phillips declined, Scardina asked for a cake depicting Satan smoking a marijuana joint – which Phillips also declined.
During the trial phase, "Scardina promised Phillips that, were this suit dismissed, Scardina would call Phillips the next day to request another cake and start another lawsuit," legal documents state.
Despite being in court for more than a decade, "numerous threatening emails" and death threats, Phillips says the case has helped to "strengthen" his faith.
"We just celebrated our 30th anniversary of being in business Labor Day weekend. And so for 30 years we’ve served everybody who’s come into our shop," he said.
"But this whole legal battle has helped strengthen my faith in Jesus Christ and strengthen our family, brought us all closer together. It’s brought together a lot of people who have helped support us in so many ways."
Phillips mentioned that a gay man testified on his behalf in court "because he understood that I serve everybody, gladly served him, but he knows that I couldn’t create every cake that people would ask me for."
"It’s been an encouraging time to see people stand beside us like that," he said.
When it comes to this latest challenge, Phillips said Scardina is "not the enemy" and that he has "nothing to forgive."
"This person isn’t fighting against me, this case is against the state and my right to express my religious freedom and do so without fear of punishment in the marketplace," said Phillips.
"So, it’s not about a personal issue, even though this person has stalked me, or you know, followed me for multiple years, 11 years at least. But I have nothing to forgive, this person isn’t an enemy," he said.
Oral arguments for the case have yet to be set but likely will be scheduled for the springtime next year.
ADF will argue that because of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Phillip’s previous case and the latest ruling in 303 Creative vs. Elenis involving a website designer, which determined that the government can’t compel an artist to speak a message with which they disagree, that the law is on Phillips’ side.
"What's critical now after 303 is the fact that this cake actually does communicate a message. The trial court found that this cake symbolizes the transition from male to female and went into great detail about the symbolism of the cake. The court found that blue represents male and pink represents female and that this cake communicates a message given the context of how cake artists are often asked to create custom cakes," Warner said.
"In light of 303 Creative, the Colorado Supreme Court should reverse the decision below and affirm Jack's right to speak consistently with his beliefs. He shouldn't be punished for declining to create a custom cake promoting a message that goes against his beliefs," Warner added.
Conclusion
There are so many topics that can be discussed from Jack Phillips and his story over the last 11 years.
- His endurance and resilience.
- His faith in God and clarity of mission.
- The communities support through 30 years of good and bad times.
- The communities intolerance of a belief and the targeting of that belief.
- A business owners struggle to survive, and so many more.
Jack Phillips and his cases need to be courses in both law school and business school, but can we take a moment and just reflect on this story in terms of being human. When did we as attorneys and people, decide it was our role to judge another for right and wrong? When did we also become the prosecutor to determine that another person for their belief, religion, skin color, sex, or any other reason needed to be targeted?
An attorney in Colorado decided to target a business owner, who already had a legal case surrounding a very similar issue, simply to do what? Put him out of business? Is that the purpose of the law? Is the law now a weapon to be used against another you disagree with?
Many times I tell people, that we can not stop the litigation, but we can attempt to stop the liability. The problem is that when we use the law as a weapon, much like Jack Phillips with 11 years of litigation, the costs and time involved will have the same affect.
Maybe, just maybe, if people used the law as a remedy instead of a weapon, then people would not view those that make the law (politicians), practice the law (lawyers), and judge the law (judges) with such disdain.
May God Bless You, Your Business, Israel, and the United States of America,
Tom Winslow