(DCNF)—Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips’ over 12-year legal battle to defend his free speech rights ended Tuesday.
The Colorado Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit against Phillips after finding the attorney who challenged him in 2017 for declining to create a cake celebrating a male-to-female gender transition did not properly file the case.
“Enough is enough. Jack has been dragged through courts for over a decade. It’s time to leave him alone,” ADF senior counsel Jake Warner said in a statement. “Free speech is for everyone.”
The attorney, Autumn Scardina, called Masterpiece Cakeshop to request a “a pink birthday cake with blue frosting” symbolizing gender transition on the same day the Supreme Court announced it would hear Phillips first case in June 2017.
Scardina initially filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. After the state and Phillips reached a settlement and the case was closed, Scardina filed a new lawsuit in state court in 2019.
The court held Tuesday that Scardina should have appealed the commission’s decision to close the case rather than bringing a new claim under Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA).
‼️BREAKING‼️ The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop
Today, the CO Supreme Court dismissed Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Scardina because an attorney harassing Jack did not follow the correct process in suing Jack.
This win ends 12+ years of… pic.twitter.com/QKwwmHlDYV
— Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) October 8, 2024
“None of the circumstances that permit an action in the district court occurred here,” the Colorado Supreme Court held. “We therefore vacate both the division’s and the district court’s orders and dismiss this case. In so doing, we express no opinion about the merits of Scardina’s claims, and nothing about today’s holding alters the protections afforded by CADA.”
John McHugh, Scardina’s attorney, told The Associated Press the Colorado Supreme Court “decided to avoid the merits of this issue by inventing an argument no party raised.”
The Supreme Court sided with Phillips in 2018, finding the commission applied CADA in a hostile manner when it found him in violation for declining to create a custom cake for a same-sex wedding. In June 2023, the Supreme Court also sided with Christian web designer Lorie Smith, finding Colorado cannot compel her to create websites for same-sex weddings in violation of her religious beliefs.
“The First Amendment envisions the United States as a rich and complex place where all persons are free to think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion.
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