For years, Colorado cake artist Jack Phillips has endured targeted attacks against him and his business, Masterpiece Cakeshop.
It all started in 2012 when the Colorado Civil Rights Commission pursued legal action against him after he respectfully declined a request to create a custom-designed cake celebrating a same-sex wedding.
On June 4, 2018, Jack finally received the victory he deserved in that case. In a 7-to-2 ruling in favor of Jack, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the state had acted with “clear and impermissible hostility” toward Jack’s religious beliefs, violating the First Amendment.
It should have ended there. But just when Jack thought he could breathe a sigh of relief, the same Colorado government agency decided to pursue Jack a second time—mere weeks after the High Court’s decision. This time around, Colorado officials came after Jack because he declined to design a custom cake celebrating a gender transition.
Colorado was unjustly targeting Jack. Thankfully, after Jack filed a federal lawsuit against the state, it backed off.
But Jack’s legal journey is still not over! The individual who requested the gender-transition cake (and who also happens to be an attorney) wasn’t satisfied and decided to sue Jack in state court.
Read the details of Jack’s latest case below.
Who: Jack Phillips
By now, you’ve probably heard a lot about Jack. He serves everyone that walks into his shop. But he can’t create custom cakes that express messages or celebrate events in conflict with his deeply held religious beliefs. This includes cakes advocating drug use, Halloween cakes, and cakes disparaging people, including those who identify as LGBT.
On June 26, 2017, a local attorney named Autumn Scardina called Masterpiece Cakeshop and requested a custom cake: designed blue on the outside and pink on the inside to celebrate and reflect Scardina’s transition from male to female. The shop declined the request because the message of the cake contradicts Jack’s religious belief that God creates us either male or female.
But the day that call came wasn’t just another summer day. It was the same day the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would hear Jack’s first case—Jack and Masterpiece Cakeshop were all over the news.
And a few months later, Scardina made another request of Masterpiece Cakeshop. This request was for a custom cake featuring Satan smoking marijuana.
Still, when Scardina filed a charge against Jack with the Colorado Civil Rights Division, it took the charge as an excuse to go after Jack again. It wasn’t until Jack sued the state for targeting him and ADF uncovered more evidence demonstrating the state’s anti-religious hostility that Colorado officials finally ended their crusade against him.
After Colorado abandoned the complaint against Jack, Scardina waited until long after the deadline to appeal that decision passed, and then decided to start over somewhere else. Scardina has now sued Jack again about the same gender-transition cake request—only this time in a different court.
What: Scardina v. Masterpiece Cakeshop
Autumn Scardina filed a lawsuit against Jack in state court. Many of the claims are similar to those raised in the case against Jack that Colorado already dismissed. Scardina opted not to appeal the Commission’s dismissal, instead filing a lawsuit that seeks more than $100,000 in damages, fines, and attorney’s fees, which could bring financial ruin on Jack and his business.
When: June 2019—Present
Autumn Scardina filed a civil lawsuit against Jack on June 5, 2019. In July 2019, ADF attorneys filed a motion to dismiss this lawsuit and asked the court to bring an end to this harassment of Jack.
On April 9, 2020 a district court will hear arguments in this case.
Where: Colorado
Jack Phillips runs his shop in a suburb just outside of Denver, Colorado, where Autumn Scardina is an attorney.
Why: No American should be punished and threatened with financial ruin for living and working consistently with their beliefs
We live in a country where freedom of speech and religious liberty are protected. While we may disagree on certain issues, we should all be free to live and work according to our beliefs. Jack Phillips, just like every creative professional, has the right to decline to use his artistic abilities to express messages or celebrate events he disagrees with.
But over the course of Jack’s legal battle, one thing has become abundantly clear: For some, it will never be enough to politely agree to disagree about important issues like the meaning of marriage or whether to celebrate a gender transition.
It wasn’t enough for Jack to lose 40 percent of his business after Colorado pursued him the first time. It wasn’t enough for Jack to have to defend his freedoms all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. And it wasn’t enough for Jack and his family to endure years of harassment and even death threats.
For some, it won’t be enough until Masterpiece Cakeshop closes its doors and Jack Phillips is in financial ruin. They want Jack, an average American business owner, to pay a hefty price—all because he wants to live according to his faith.
The Bottom Line
Every American should have the freedom to live and work according to their beliefs without fear of government punishment. Jack serves everyone; what he can’t do is create custom cake art that celebrates events or expresses messages in conflict with his religious beliefs. And now, he is being threatened with financial ruin for exercising this freedom. It is time to leave Jack alone.
Maureen Collins has a passion for writing and her work has appeared on The Federalist. Originally published by Alliance Defending Freedom.