Colorado is targeting Christian baker Jack Phillips — again


Still_Small_Voice
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The Colorado Civil Rights Commission is going after Christian baker Jack Phillips again, this time because he refused to bake a cake celebrating transgenderism.

The Colorado Civil Rights Commission decision to go after Phillips a second time came just months after the Supreme Court ruled the commission violated its First Amendment “obligation of religious neutrality” under the free exercise clause when it punished Phillips for not baking a cake for a same-sex wedding.

What are the details?

On June 26, 2017 — the exact same day the Supreme Court agreed to hear Phillips’ case — a lawyer called Masterpiece Cakeshop asking for a birthday cake. The lawyer requested the cake be pink on the inside and blue on the outside, explaining it would be used to celebrate the seventh anniversary of her gender transition.

Masterpiece declined to make the cake and explained it could not, in good conscience, bake a cake celebrating a transgender message. The shop offered to bake other cakes or sell the lawyer a pre-designed cake. The lawyer declined.

Read more at this website:

https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/08/15/colorado-is-targeting-christian-baker-jack-phillips-again-this-time-hes-going-on-the-offensive

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I'm seriously thinking about buying a cake from this business or giving money to their legal defense fund.  It is Jack's rights today and our rights tomorrow.  It is sad some people cannot just let this man live in peace.

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Oh, I haven't read the story, but I don't think this is the state.  I'm thinking this is an organized and funded effort to move forward an agenda in an effective manner.  Folks are picking this time, this state, and this baker, because there's a proven path to the supreme court.  The prior SCOTUS ruling didn't say "knock it off the baker is not doing anything wrong."  It said "We overturn the previous ruling because that one guy on the commission was obviously a jerkwad".  I'm guessing the jerkwad has learned his lesson or been replaced this time around.

Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if folks on both sides of the battle are okay with this news story, and even had a hand in planning it.  Because this battle will be won or lost at the SCOTUS level.

Is there someone who actually knows what they're talking about who might be able to comment?

Edited by NeuroTypical
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27 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

Oh, I haven't read the story, but I don't think this is the state.  I'm thinking this is an organized and funded effort to move forward an agenda in an effective manner.  Folks are picking this time, this state, and this baker, because there's a proven path to the supreme court.  The prior SCOTUS ruling didn't say "knock it off the baker is not doing anything wrong."  It said "We overturn the previous ruling because that one guy on the commission was obviously a jerkwad".  I'm guessing the jerkwad has learned his lesson or been replaced this time around.

Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if folks on both sides of the battle are okay with this news story, and even had a hand in planning it.  Because this battle will be won or lost at the SCOTUS level.

Is there someone who actually knows what they're talking about who might be able to comment?

I agree...  I agree so much that I am willing to predict what will happen next.

Other bakers will be asked to make religious themed cakes that offend their sensibilities.

The other bakers will refuse and official complaints will be made.  (this has all happened before)

This time the officials will take them seriously (This is the mistake Colorado made last time that got them shot down)

Without a clear religious persecution bias the case once again makes it to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court either finds another technicality or they rule on the merits.

The only thing I do not know is if Jack Phillips is ok being used as the tip of the spear/lighting rod

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The same people harassing this baker are the same people who demand Facebook, Apple, Google (YouTube), and Spotify deny Alex Jones a platform.

Free speech is dying but doncha worry... we have originalists constitutionalists on the SCOTUS now.  Right?  Right?

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2 hours ago, estradling75 said:

The only thing I do not know is if Jack Phillips is ok being used as the tip of the spear/lighting rod

If he really isn't ok being used as the lightning rod he can easily get out of it.  Bake cakes and offer the cake for free but sell the cake box for $150 (or however much he currently makes).  Put a sticker on the door on why the cake is free but that he can't give the cake without a box.  @NeuroTypical probably knows what I'm talking about.  This is how you sell meat chicken without going through the FDA - you sell the chicken alive, then offer free butchering service.

Edited by anatess2
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Yes indeed.  I've sold some turkeys - and threw in the processing for free.  Also, been selling egg cartons for years - we throw in the eggs for free.   

One difference is our taxes are easy.  It's a hobby, which means you put your expenses on one side, and your income on the other, and every dollar of income you make gets offset by a dollar of expense.  And since there's never been a hobby chicken ranch ever that has actually made more than they spent, it's never been a problem.  Just don't deduct the left over expenses, or you have to be a business, which means you have to turn a profit, which means you can't, which means the IRS audits you because you're passing your hobby off as a business.

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30 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

Yes indeed.  I've sold some turkeys - and threw in the processing for free.  Also, been selling egg cartons for years - we throw in the eggs for free.   

Whoa.  I never thought of selling egg cartons!  Brilliant!

I found out about this because I was gonna do my own suburb mini homestead with meat rabbits and quail (not considered agri so I can have them in my HOA) but then my husband pointed out... can you really butcher a rabbit, can you, can you?  And I thought about it and I'm like... uhm, yeah, I don't know if I can.  So I went and called this guy advertising free butchering with the chicken and I asked him if he'll do rabbits and he said he doesn't raise rabbits and I said, I'll provide the rabbit and I'll pay you for the butchering and he said he can't because... FDA.

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I thought the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act which created the Food Drug Administration was supposed to help and not hinder.  Just shows you how when we drift further from the Constitution and limitation of powers how more problems are created.

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Guest MormonGator
1 minute ago, Still_Small_Voice said:

I thought the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act which created the Food Drug Administration was supposed to help and not hinder.  Just shows you how when we drift further from the Constitution and limitation of powers how more problems are created.

So true. 

1 hour ago, lostinwater said:

This is very sad.  A perfect example of how to decrease the likelihood of someone accepting you.

Exactly. This will just increase the divisions between us.  

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On 8/16/2018 at 2:24 AM, Still_Small_Voice said:

I'm seriously thinking about buying a cake from this business or giving money to their legal defense fund.  It is Jack's rights today and our rights tomorrow.  It is sad some people cannot just let this man live in peace.

Their brownies rock.

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  • 2 weeks later...

unfortunately the courts decision was ultimately to pass the hot potato on to the next case.... which looks like it will be him, again. the only thing they ruled against was that the accusers used the courts maliciously. they didn't touch rights at all.

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  • 4 months later...

Here is an update on this case:  

Jack Phillips, the Colorado baker who successfully fought the Colorado Civil Rights Commission all the way to the Supreme Court last year, is back in federal court again. He's won yet another victory over the commission, which seems determined to force the Christian baker out of business . . .

The commission asked the federal court to dismiss the suit as premature, arguing (based on the doctrine articulated in the Supreme Court decision Younger v. Harris) that Phillips should be required to exhaust all available state remedies before availing himself of federal court. Phillips countered that he should not be required to continue to proceed in state court because the state was proceeding against him in "bad faith," which is a recognized legal exception to Younger abstention.

As evidence of the commission's bad faith, Phillips pointed to the derogatory comments made by commission members during his prior legal fight. The commission countered that this time, they had not disparaged Phillips' religious beliefs and were not proceeding in bad faith.

Unsurprisingly, the district court was not impressed with this argument. Judge Wiley Daniel held that the fact that the commission proceeded against Phillips immediately after losing at the Supreme Court supported Phillips' argument that the commission was acting in bad faith in its handling of his case. Accordingly, the federal case was allowed to move forward.

Read more at:  https://www.theblaze.com/news/jack-phillips-masterpiece-cakeshop-lawsuit

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  • 1 month later...

Here is another update on this case: 

March 6th 2019 -- Once again Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips has beaten the Christian-banning law in Colorado. This time Phillips has gotten the state to drop its latest harassment campaign against his business.

Phillips reached an agreement with the Centennial State to drop his lawsuit against the state in exchange for Colorado ending its most current persecution of his religious principles.

“The Colorado Civil Rights Commission will dismiss administrative action against Phillips, and Phillips will withdraw his federal court case against the case,” according to Fox 31.

“After careful consideration of the facts, both sides agreed it was not in anyone’s best interest to move forward with these cases,” Colorado Democrat Attorney General Phil Weiser said.

Read more at: https://godfatherpolitics.com/christian-bakeshop-owner-beats-colorados-religion-ban-again/

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I can't help wondering if this was the Commission's desired outcome the whole time.  This second attack was staged with someone deliberately going to the cake shop to trigger this action.  I have a feeling Phillips had a good chance of winning his lawsuit and this was their way of dodging it.

I dunno.  Just speculating.  In any case, I doubt this is really the end of the story.

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  • 2 years later...

Here we go again.  Jack Phillips had another lawsuit filed against him in 2021.  This is so ridiculous in my opinion.

Read more about it here:  https://www.deseret.com/u-s-world/2021/3/24/22348404/colorado-baker-jack-phillips-sued-again-lgbtq-bias

If you want to contribute to Jack's legal fund go here:  https://adflegal.org/enough-is-enough?sourcecode=10018371_r850&utm_source=newsmax&utm_medium=email_acquisition&utm_campaign=jack_phillips_update

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