{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://degette.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/colorado-politicos-react-to-supreme-court-hearing-on-masterpiece-cakeshop", "Colorado Politicos React to Supreme Court Hearing on Masterpiece Cakeshop Case", "2017-12-06", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "CO", "Diana DeGette", "D000197", "degette.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Both sides agree it\u2019s a question of rights but differ sharply whose rights should prevail under the law in a case argued Tuesday before the U.S. Supreme Court \u2014 whether it\u2019s the baker and his religious beliefs or the same-sex couple and their right to be treated like any other customers.\nAs the\u00a0divisive\u00a0case\u00a0had its day in court\u00a0\u2014 pitting Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips against the married couple,\u00a0Charlie Craig and David Mullins \u2014\u00a0Colorado politicians hewed mainly along partisan lines assessing\u00a0the legal dispute.\nWhen Phillips claimed it would\u00a0violate his religious beliefs to create a custom wedding cake for the fianc\u00e9s in 2012, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission found he had violated the\u00a0Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act and disciplined Phillips and his business.\nThe Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that the baker\u00a0had discriminated against Craig and Mullins because of their sexual orientation, which is protected by Colorado law. Earlier this year,\u00a0the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.\nU.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat, spoke at a rally outside the high court in Washington, D.C. She\u00a0tweeted a video clip\u00a0of some of her remarks comparing the wedding cake case to the passage of the anti-LGBT Amendment 2 by Colorado voters 25 years ago.\n\u201cAs a fourth-generation Coloradan and a strong supporter of LGBTQ rights, I was appalled at these actions, and I was appalled at my state,\u201d DeGette said, referring to the state constitutional amendment adopted in 1992. \u201cBut I fought, my family fought, my friends fought, Coloradans and Americans fought day in and day out to stop this hate, and, you know what, we won.\u201d\nAfter the rally, she said in a\u00a0second tweet, she met Mullins and Craig, who live in her congressional district.\n\u201cAfter speaking at a rally on their behalf, I was honored to meet my constituents David Mullins and Charlie Craig, who are at the heart of the #MasterpieceCakeshop case. I\u2019m proud to represent these men who are fighting to ensure businesses are #OpenToAll,\u201d DeGette wrote.\nHer sentiments were not shared by Colorado Rep. Doug Lamborn, who said Phillips was acting within his First Amendment rights to freedom of religion and free speech in denying service to Charlie Craig and David Mullins.\n\u201cI support Jack 100 percent on this issue,\u201d said Lamborn, a Republican from Colorado Springs. \u201cI believe the Constitution protects his right to refuse to use his artistic talents in a ceremony that he does not agree with religiously.\u201d\nIf Phillips loses his Supreme Court case, \u201ceveryone\u2019s freedom is at risk,\u201d Lamborn said.\nThe legal battle also pits Colorado\u2019s attorney general, Republican Cynthia Coffman, who is\u00a0defending state law, against the Trump administration\u2019s Justice Department, which\u00a0weighed in on the side\u00a0of the Lakewood baker.\nCoffman, who is running for governor in next year\u2019s election, said in a statement that it would be \u201ca mistake\u201d if the high court created an exception to anti-discrimination laws.\n\u201cAfter a long and careful debate, Colorado\u2019s legislature in 2008 decided to extend the LGBT community the very same legal protections we use to fight all forms of discrimination, whether based on race, sex, or a person\u2019s faith,\u201d she said. \u201cOne critical part of those protections is the idea that when people walk into a retail store that is open to the public, they are not turned away because of who they are. Our State and our Constitution has deep respect for the right of all people to follow their faith and speak their minds. But it would be a mistake in deciding this case to create new exceptions to anti-discrimination laws that have never been applied to any other group of people. My office presented the Court with our strongest arguments today, based on many years of established legal precedent, and I look forward to receiving its ruling.\u201d\nState Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver, led a group of\u00a0LGBTQ Coloradans who filed an amicus brief\u00a0in the case.\n\u201cI applaud Colorado\u2019s legal team today in their oral argument before the United States Supreme Court,\u201d Herod said Tuesday. \u201cThey demonstrated that Colorado stands firmly in support of the free expression of religion while also protecting people from discrimination.\n\u201cColorado just argued one heck of a case,\u201d said Representative Herod. \u201cThe state can support religious freedoms while also protecting Coloradans like me from discrimination. These are not mutually exclusive.\u201d\nFormer U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, another Republican running for governor, took the opposite view. On Twitter, Tancredo linked to a\u00a0video\u00a0he posted recently, saying he had just attended a rally in support of Phillips and displays a T-shirt that reads, \u201cI Stand with Masterpiece Cakeshop.\u201d\nAfter describing the case, Tancredo states his conclusion:\n\u201cEverybody wants freedom. Everybody wants the ability to extol the virtues of diversity, right? Well, great! Great! Part of being a diverse society is allowing people to express themselves, religiously \u2014 it\u2019s not hurting anybody, not shooting anybody in the street, not creating a violent situation, but just living out their religious beliefs, even in their business,\u201d Tancredo says. \u201cThat\u2019s the way it should be. So I hope and pray that the Supreme Court will, in fact, reaffirm the concepts of individual liberty upon which this country was founded.\u201d\nMichael Dougherty, a prosecutor and one of five Democrats running for attorney general, declared the stakes high in a statement he issued just before the scheduled oral arguments.\n\u201cThis case will have a wide-ranging impact, as it determines whether a business owner is allowed to refuse service to customers by simply claiming a justification under the First Amendment,\u201d Dougherty said. \u201cThe stakes could not be higher when it comes to defending equal rights in our country. Should the Supreme Court overturn the Colorado Court of Appeals ruling it will have sanctioned discrimination. It is shameful that this principle continues to be tested \u2013 and it continues to remain critical that we have leaders who dispel racism, hate, and bigotry. I am hopeful that the high court will sustain Colorado\u2019s decision.\u201d\nState Rep. Justin Everett, a Littleton Republican and candidate for state treasurer, said the argument is a lot simpler than the one some of Phillips\u2019 defenders have been advancing.\n\u201cIt\u2019s forcing someone to produce the fruits of their labor they don\u2019t want to do. That seems very un-American,\u201d he told Colorado Politics. \u201cCommon sense has gone out the door at this point. The fact is, we\u2019ve wasted tons of taxpayer money when this is a common-sense principle.\u201d\n\u201cIt puts a chilling effect on anybody. This is sort of PC run amok,\u201d Everett added, using an abbreviation for \u201cpolitically correct.\u201d\nFormer state Sen. Mike Johnston, a Denver Democrat and candidate for governor, likewise maintained the case comes down to simple common sense but arrived at the opposite conclusion.\n\u201cThe problem with the #MasterpieceCakeshop argument is that the case is not about what he refuses to sell,\u201d Johnston\u00a0tweeted. \u201cIt\u2019s about who he refuses to sell it to. I hope #SCOTUS agrees \u2013 fast. #end discrimination @One_Colorado\u201d\nJeff Hunt, president of Colorado Christian University\u2019s Centennial Institute, told Colorado Politics he was encouraged by the course of the argument before the justices.\n\u201cIt appears today that the Supreme Court understands the issues at stake when Justice Kennedy stated that \u2018tolerance is essential in a free society.\u2019 Justice Kennedy specifically honed in on the fact that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission acted out of malice and has not been tolerant of Jack Phillips\u2019 religion. Furthermore, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission has not been consistent in penalizing Jack Phillips while allowing other bakers to refuse to create cakes that violated their conscience. Freedom of conscience, free speech, and freedom of religion are fundamental human rights to be protected. These rights are clearly spelled out in the Constitution, are essential to the health of our nation, and must be protected for all Americans,\u201d Hunt said in a written statement.\nProgressNow Colorado executive director Ian Silverii told Colorado Politics that the legal principle is clear.\n\u201cThe principle that business establishments open to the public must serve all members of the public equally is essential to a free and fair society,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cEvery person has the right to express their beliefs freely. What you can\u2019t do is discriminate against some customers when your business is open to all customers. Allowing any business serving the public to exempt themselves from the nation\u2019s laws against discrimination would be a massive step backward for our country.\u201d\nThe case attracted more than 100 amicus, or friend-of-the-court, briefs. One of them came from Democrats in Congress, including Colorado lawmakers Sen. Michael Bennet and Reps. DeGette, Ed Perlmutter and Jared Polis.\nIt warned the Supreme Court against a ruling \u201cinviting discrimination against historically marginalized communities, including but not limited to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community.\u201d\nThe Court\u2019s ruling is expected before next June.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://degette.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/colorado-politicos-react-to-supreme-court-hearing-on-masterpiece-cakeshop"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5544290654361248, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}