The United States Supreme Court handed a major win to a Christian baker in Colorado. The high court ruled in favor of Jack Phillips, the man who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple on religious grounds. In a narrow opinion, the high court said the Colorado Civil Rights Commission violated the baker's rights by displaying open hostility about his religious beliefs.
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion and said that the commission disparaged Phillips' religious beliefs during public hearings.
“This sentiment is inappropriate for a commission charged with the solemn responsibility of fair and neutral enforcement of Colorado’s anti-discrimination law — a law that protects discrimination on the basis of religion as well as sexual orientation,” Kennedy said.
The court found that the commission violated the free exercise clause of the Constitution when it forced Phillips to make a cake for a same-sex wedding.
"The laws and the Constitution can, and in some instances must protect gay persons and gay couples in the exercise of their civil rights, but religious and philosophical objections to gay marriage are protected views and in some instances protected forms of expression," Kennedy wrote.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented in the 7-2 ruling.
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