For over a decade, Colorado cake artist Jack Phillips has endured targeted attacks against him and his business, Masterpiece Cakeshop.
It all started in 2012 when the Colorado Civil Rights Commission pursued legal action against him after he respectfully declined a request to create a custom-designed cake celebrating a same-sex wedding.
In June 2018, Jack finally received the victory he deserved in that case. In a 7-2 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the state had acted with “clear and impermissible hostility” toward Jack’s religious beliefs, violating the First Amendment.
It should have ended there. But just when Jack thought he could breathe a sigh of relief, the same Colorado government agency decided to pursue him a second time—mere weeks after the high court’s decision. This time around, Colorado officials came after Jack because he had declined to create a custom cake celebrating and symbolizing a so-called “gender transition.”
Colorado was unjustly targeting Jack again. Thankfully, after he filed a federal lawsuit, the state backed off.
But Jack’s legal journey still wasn’t over. The individual who requested the “gender-transition” cake (and who also happens to be an attorney) decided to sue Jack in state court. Unfortunately, a Colorado trial court ruled that Jack could be forced to express things he does not believe. And a state appeals court affirmed that judgment. But Jack didn’t back down. Alliance Defending Freedom appealed the case on his behalf to the Colorado Supreme Court.
Why was Jack targeted a third time?
By now, you’ve probably heard a lot about Jack. He serves everyone who walks into his shop, but he cannot create custom cakes that express messages or celebrate events that conflict with his deeply held religious beliefs. This includes Halloween cakes, cakes advocating drug use, and cakes disparaging people, including those who identify as LGBT.
In June 2017, a local attorney named Autumn Scardina called Masterpiece Cakeshop and requested a custom cake: designed blue on the outside and pink on the inside to celebrate and symbolize a transition from male to female. The shop declined the request because the message of the cake contradicts Jack’s religious belief that human beings are created by God either male or female.
But the day that call came wasn’t just another summer day. It was the same day the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would hear Jack’s first case. Jack and Masterpiece Cakeshop were all over the news.
Later, Scardina made another request of Masterpiece Cakeshop. This request was for a custom cake featuring Satan smoking marijuana, clearly showing Scardina’s malice against Jack and his beliefs.
When Scardina filed a charge against Jack with the Colorado Civil Rights Division, the government took the charge as an excuse to go after Jack again. It wasn’t until Jack sued the state for targeting him and ADF uncovered more evidence demonstrating the state’s anti-religious hostility that Colorado officials finally ended their crusade against him.
After Colorado abandoned the complaint against Jack, Scardina waited until long past the deadline to appeal and then decided to start over somewhere else. Scardina has now sued Jack again about the same “gender-transition” cake request—only this time in state court. This is the third lawsuit directly targeting Jack for his religious beliefs.
Scardina has vowed to continue harassing Jack until he is punished, aiming to “correct the errors of [his] thinking.”
Colorado Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit
In October 2024, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in Jack’s latest case. The justices ruled to dismiss Scardina’s lawsuit, bringing an end to this harassment of Jack and his cakeshop.
“We granted review to determine, among other issues, whether [the attorney] properly filed [this] case,” the court wrote in its opinion. “We conclude that [the attorney] did not.”
We live in a country where freedom of speech and religious freedom are protected. While Americans may disagree on certain issues, we should all be free to express what we believe without being punished by the government. Jack has the right to create freely, expressing only those messages that are consistent with his core beliefs.
“Enough is enough,” ADF Senior Counsel Jake Warner said. “Jack has been dragged through courts for over a decade. It’s time to leave him alone.”
Indeed. Free speech is for everyone. Thanks to the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision, Jack Phillips will no longer need to worry about this harassing lawsuit trying to punish him for exercising his First Amendment rights.
Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Scardina
- June 2019: Autumn Scardina filed a civil lawsuit against Jack.
- July 2019: ADF attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and asked the court to bring an end to this harassment of Jack.
- April 2020: A district court heard arguments on that motion. A few weeks later, the court entered an order allowing part of the lawsuit to move forward.
- March 2021: The case went to trial.
- June 2021: The court ruled that Jack can be punished for declining to create custom cakes that violate his beliefs.
- August 2021: ADF attorneys representing Jack filed a notice of appeal to the Colorado Court of Appeals.
- April 2023: After the Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s decision, ADF attorneys appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court.
- July 2023: ADF attorneys filed a supplemental notice asking the Colorado Supreme Court to apply the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in 303 Creative v. Elenis to similarly affirm Jack’s First Amendment rights.
- October 2023: The Colorado Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
- June 2024: The court heard oral argument in the case.
- October 2024: The Colorado Supreme Court dismissed Scardina’s lawsuit, bringing an end to the attorney’s lawsuit attempting to harass Jack.
