Monday saw the Supreme Court rule in favor of Colorado Baker, Jack Philips, who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple back in 2012.
The ruling, which reverses the decision made by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, was 7-2 in favor of Philips who maintained that forcing him to bake the cake for the gay couple infringed on his religious beliefs.
While the court held that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission showed hostility toward the baker based on his religious beliefs it does still leave some constitutional questions open regarding religious liberty as it avoided ruling broadly on the intersection of anti-discrimination laws and rights to free exercise.
Justice Kennedy of the Supreme Court stated after the ruling that, “The outcome of cases like this in other circumstances must await further elaboration in the courts, all in the context of recognizing that these disputes must be resolved with tolerance, without undue disrespect to sincere religious beliefs, and without subjecting gay persons to indignities when they seek goods and services in an open market.”
