Another Cakes Case at the Court?

Cakes could be set to make another Supreme Court appearance: On Tuesday, a Christian baker asked the court to decide whether the First Amendment protects her refusal to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding.

This is similar to the 2017 case Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado, in which the court held that the First Amendment protected a Christian baker’s right not to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. 

Cathy Miller, the owner of Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, California, argues the Masterpiece precedent applies in her case. However, the California Civil Rights Department, the agency bringing the case against Miller, says the cases are different because, unlike Masterpiece, this case doesn’t involve the baker customizing the cake specifically for a same-sex wedding. Instead, it involves a pre-designed, or “generic,” wedding cake.

Miller’s case started in 2017, when her bakery told a same-sex couple she couldn’t sell them a wedding cake, citing a written policy against providing cakes for same-sex weddings based on Miller’s religious beliefs. Shortly after, the California Civil Rights Department sued.

In 2023, six years after the suit started, a California trial court ruled in her favor. The court said that because Miller referred the couple to another bakery, she hadn’t violated state civil rights law. It also asserted that her refusal to bake the cake was protected under the First Amendment’s free speech clause.

California appealed that decision, though, and in February of this year, a California court of appeals overturned the trial court’s decision. 

The appeals court said that Miller’s policy—which prohibited the sale of any cake for a same-sex wedding—discriminated based on sexual orientation and thus violated civil rights law. More than that, it said her refusal was not protected expression, as the cake requested was a “predesigned, multi-purpose white cake”—which, it said, is “not pure speech” nor “symbolic speech.”

Miller appealed, but the California Supreme Court declined to hear her case—so, on Tuesday, she took her request to the nation’s highest court, filing a petition asking the court to hear her case.

“I’m asking the court to end California’s harassment once and for all,” Miller said in a statement. “All I want is to serve my neighbors as the Gospel of Jesus Christ calls me to without being forced to create messages that violate my beliefs.”

“For eight long years, California has treated Cathy like an enemy—dragging her through court, smearing her name, and trying to force her to violate her faith,” said Adèle Keim, senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, one of the groups bringing the case for Miller. “Enough is enough. We’re asking the court to put a stop to this bullying campaign and let Cathy design in peace. Justice demands no less.” 

The Supreme Court will begin reviewing petitions when the justices return in October.

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