Speed Reads

Let them eat cake

Supreme Court rules in favor of Colorado baker who refused to bake wedding cake for gay couple

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple in 2012, reports the Denver Post.

The baker, Jack Phillips, said he denied the couple because of his religious objection to same-sex marriage. The ruling was 7-2, with Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissenting, The Washington Post reports.

The court did not make a wide-ranging ruling to apply to similar circumstances, however, instead ruling narrowly that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had acted hostilely toward Phillips because of his religious views after the couple filed discrimination charges. The Supreme Court ruled that the baker did not get a fair hearing on his complaint when the commission and appeals court ruled against him. Justice Anthony Kennedy said that just as Colorado law "can protect gay persons in acquiring products and services," the law must also "be applied in a manner that is neutral toward religion." Read more at The Washington Post.