Supreme Court Vacates Another Opinion Applying Antidiscrimination Laws to Religious Objectors [June 19, 2019]   [open pdf - 644KB]

From the Document: "On June 17, 2019, in 'Klein v. Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries,' the Supreme Court vacated a state court decision rejecting an Oregon bakery's claim to a religious exemption from state antidiscrimination laws. The bakery's owners had refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding. [...] The facts of 'Klein' echo the circumstances presented in 2018's 'Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission,' in which a Colorado baker had similarly argued that applying state antidiscrimination laws to compel him to make a cake for a same-sex wedding violated the First Amendment. [...] The Court took a similar action in 2018, issuing an almost identical GVR [grant, vacate, and remand order] in 'Washington v. Arlene's Flowers, Inc.,' a case involving a florist who raised religious objections to serving a same-sex couple. [...] This Sidebar reviews the First Amendment principles at issue in these disputes, then discusses 'Masterpiece Cakeshop,' 'Arlene's Flowers,' and 'Klein.'"