US Supreme Court Throws Out Ruling Against Oregon Bakery, Sends Case Back to Lower Court for Review

Aaron and Melissa Klein of Sweet Cakes by Melissa were fined $135,000 four years ago after Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) Commissioner Brad Avakian declared that they had discriminated against two lesbian women for declining to help out with their same-sex “wedding.”

(Heather Clark – Christian News Network)  The U.S. Supreme Court has vacated an adverse ruling against an Oregon couple who declined to create a cake for a same-sex “wedding,’ and has sent the case back to the Oregon Court of Appeals to review the matter in light of its decision in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, which found that hostility toward religion tainted its action against the bakery.

“The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted. The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded to the Court of Appeals of Oregon for further consideration in light of Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Comm’n,” the nation’s highest court wrote in an order on Monday.

Today’s order is the second time that the court has done so in a case involving conscience rights vs. same-sex “weddings.” In June 2018, the Supreme Court asked the Washington Supreme Court to revisit its ruling in the Arlene’s Flowers case, a decision that centered on a florist who gave her longtime customer referrals to others who might assist with his “wedding” plans rather than fulfilling that particular order herself.  View article →