WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court punted again Tuesday on whether it plans to hear a case involving a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple — further delaying action on a legal fight that’s drawn national attention.
The case was excluded from an order list released by the high court; making it the ninth time the justices have postponed a decision on the petition by Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips, according to court watchers at SCOTUSblog.
#SCOTUS once again does not act on 1st Amend challenge by Colorado baker who objects to creating cake for same-sex marriage
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) May 30, 2017
2.Colo cake case had been relisted 9 times going into last week’s conference
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) May 30, 2017
Tuesday’s move isn’t the final word, however. The Supreme Court could decide as soon as next month whether it wants to referee a case the Colorado Supreme Court declined to hear last year.
But the delay extends the drama of a simmering fight between civil rights activists and religious liberty proponents.
The battle began in 2012 when Phillips, citing his religious beliefs, declined to make a wedding cake for Charlie Craig and David Mullins. The couple said the practice was discriminatory, and both the Colorado Court of Appeals and the state’s Civil Rights Commission ruled in their favor.
But Phillips has appealed his case to the Supreme Court, where it now sits in limbo.
Upping the case’s intrigue is the addition of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.
Before joining the high court, the Colorado native had a judicial record that gave deference to religious rights on a couple of high-profile cases. The baker case, known as Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, would test the limits of that philosophy.
