CO Supreme Court Narrowly Dismisses Jack Phillips Persecution

Jack Phillips, the longsuffering cake artist and owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado, recently won his latest case at the Colorado Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2024, Colorado’s highest court issued a ruling dismissing a lawsuit against him on procedural grounds. One could hope that this ruling will bring Phillips’ 12-year-long legal drama to an end, but the court’s failure to rule in Phillips’ favor on the merits of the case leaves him in a tenuous position.

In 2018, Autumn Scardina, a transgender-identifying attorney in Colorado, called his shop. He requested that Phillips create a pink cake with blue icing to celebrate and symbolize a “gender transition” from male to female. Phillips, who believes that God created human beings as either male or female, politely declined. He would not create a cake expressing the message that one’s sex can change for anyone — whether the individual identifies as transgender or not.

Scardina called Phillips on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would take up Phillips’ first case. That’s not a coincidence. A few months later, Scardina called Phillips’ shop again and requested he make a cake featuring “Satan smoking a joint.” Phillips also declined to create that cake. Scardina has admitted to making these cake requests to “test” Phillips and to “correct the errors of [his] thinking.”

What this reveals is that Scardina is not a persecuted member of an ill-defined minority group. He’s persecuted, intimidated, and harassed Phillips, plain and simple. As everyone knows, you don’t give in to those who seek to terrorize you. You stand up to them. That’s exactly what Jack Phillips has bravely done.

For years, he has been targeted by LGBT activists simply for baking cakes. He uses his God-given creative talents to make cakes that “express messages or celebrate events” in accordance with his faith, not in opposition to it.

Because he sees his work as an extension of his faith, Phillips won’t create cakes for Halloween. He won’t create cakes that “advocate [for the] use of marijuana or illegal drugs.” And he won’t create cakes that demonize other people — including those who identify as LGBT.

For his courage of convictions, Phillips has been on the receiving end of seemingly endless lawsuits.

After Phillips won his first case at the U.S. Supreme Court, Scardina filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission alleging Phillips was discriminating against him based on his “transgender” identity. The commission, agreeing with Scardina, then issued a formal complaint against Phillips.

But remember, Phillips serves all people. He just can’t create custom cakes that express messages violating his faith and conscience.

The commission dropped its complaint against Phillips after he countersued the commission for harassing him. One of the commissioners had referred to Phillips’ religious freedom appeal as “a despicable piece of rhetoric.” Another called Phillips a “hater” on Twitter.

But even then, Scardina wouldn’t let the issue rest. He filed a civil lawsuit against Phillips and nearly won. Before Tuesday’s 4-3 decision in Phillips’ favor, he had already lost at the trial court level. In addition, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 against Phillips in January 2023.

“We granted certiorari to determine, among other issues, whether Scardina properly filed [his] case in the district court,” the Colorado Supreme Court ruled last week. “We conclude that [he] did not.”

Because the court made its decision on procedural grounds rather than the merits of the case, it did not truly uphold Phillips’ First Amendment right to free speech and freely exercise his religion. Appallingly, the ruling also leaves open the possibility that Phillips, and other Christian professionals, could be targeted in the future.

The court’s refusal to clearly uphold Phillips’ First Amendment rights is indefensible but perhaps not surprising. Democrat governors appointed all seven of the court’s justices. The court’s majority opinion even used female pronouns to refer to Scardina, who is a male.

The dissenting opinion is even worse. The three dissenting justices (also using female pronouns for Scardina) criticized the court for deciding the issue on procedural grounds and then argued the court should have ruled on the merits in favor of Scardina. Who needs that pesky First Amendment when you have “LGBT rights” to advance?

While the decision in Phillips’ favor is undoubtedly worth celebrating, it’s absurd that in America one can be dragged through the legal ringer for 12 years simply for trying to earn an honest living and live in accordance with his faith.

As the editors at National Review wrote after the Colorado Supreme Court’s judgment was announced, “The end of the current round of persecution of Phillips is cause for celebration but not for unbridled joy. …  The process has been the punishment.”

Phillips has handled his legal troubles with class and grace. But he’s also stood firm, held to his convictions, and refused to give in or back down. Even when he lost 40 percent of his business, and his ability to create wedding cakes, he remained resolute.

We who live in troubled times can learn a lot from Jack Phillips. We need more men of courage and conviction. Men who know what they believe, what is right, and are willing to suffer for it. Men and women willing to sacrifice their comfort, riches, safety, and lives have changed the world.

Our Founding Fathers were willing to sacrifice their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to establish our great nation. From the very beginning, sacrifice and suffering have been essential to America’s DNA.

Congratulations to Jack on his hard-fought victory. May he be blessed for his willingness to suffer and for his modern example of how Christians should live in a hostile and post-Christian culture — and may we be prepared to follow that example.

Zachary Mettler works as a staff writer and communications liaison for the Daily Citizen at Focus on the Family. In his role, he writes about current political issues, U.S. history, political philosophy, and culture. Mettler earned his Bachelor’s degree from William Jessup University and is an alumnus of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. In addition to the Daily Citizen, his written pieces have appeared in the Daily Wire, the Washington Times, the Washington Examiner, Newsweek, Townhall, the Daily Signal, the Christian Post, Charisma News and other outlets.