DOJ urges Supreme Court to rule for baker in Colorado same-sex wedding cake case

This is the outgrowth of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the doctrine of public accommodations that was set up at that time; to prevent discrimination against minorities, certain businesses were defined as such. However, at the time, few people were defining their purpose in discrimination as uniquely religious—and hence it took decades for this to catch up to BJU. Even then, it was not fines, but rather eligibility for federal funds. More or less, the court is being asked, in the name of a “penumbra of provacy” that started with Griswold v. Connecticut (contraception) and continued through Roe to Obergefell, to determine whether an implied right to privacy and marriage can override a written freedom of religion in the 1st Amendment.

I personally think the DOJ, is on the right side of the law as the Constitution is written, but would not be surprised if the Court (Anthony Kennedy) extended BJU vs. U.S. to further limit the freedom of bakers and florists.

“No American should have to satisfy a government official that he holds the ‘right’ beliefs to keep his business or to practice his profession,” according to the brief.

The brief contends religious free exercise, protected in the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, extends not just to religious bodies but to “individuals and businesses in the marketplace as well.”

http://www.bpnews.net/49516/court-urged-to-protect-cake-artists-religio…

David R. Brumbelow