Lawyers: Oregon hostile to baker's Christianity

Aaron and Melissa Klein were fined $135,000 for refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding.

Citing the U.S. Supreme Court's scolding of Colorado for its "hostility" to a Christian baker who refused to promote homosexuality with his artistry, lawyers for an Oregon bakery contend their case was "polluted by the same anti-religious bias."

A brief has been filed by First Liberty Institute with the Oregon Court of Appeals on behalf of Aaron and Melissa Klein.

Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a state court ruling that effectively forced the Kleins out of business. They were penalized $135,000 for refusing to make a cake for a same-sex wedding, which conflicted with their sincerely held religious beliefs.

That decision sent the case back into the Oregon courts, with instructions that subsequent decisions abide by the Supreme Court's Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission decision.

"In its Masterpiece decision, the Supreme Court reminded government officials everywhere, that they must be neutral toward and respectful of the religious beliefs of its citizens," said Stephanie Taub, senior counsel to First Liberty. "The Oregon decision against the Kleins was polluted by the same anti-religious bias that caused the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of Masterpiece Cakeshop. It's time for the Oregon courts to adhere to the Supreme Court’s precedent."

Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries found that the Kleins had violated Oregon’s public accommodations statute after the couple declined to design and create a wedding cake celebrating a same-sex marriage.

But the new brief points out, "Abandoning the constitutional requirements of neutrality, tolerance, and respect, BOLI's commissioner, Brad Avakian, spoke dismissively of the Kleins' religious objections before their case even came before him."

The brief notes, "Avakian's statements about the Kleins’ religious beliefs – which he uttered before BOLI had even completed its investigation or had filed formal charges – show that his anti-religious bias led him to prejudge the Kleins’ arguments that their art is protected speech and that they are entitled to a religious exemption."

Oregon officials, besides handing the bakery the $135,000 death penalty, also ordered the Kleins not to talk about their beliefs.

That "hostility" by the state of Colorado to Masterpiece Cakeshop operator Jack Phillips was key in the Supreme Court's decision.

"The United States Supreme Court held that Phillips was 'entitled to the neutral and respectful considering of his claims in all the circumstances of the case,' free of 'hostility toward the sincere religious beliefs that motivated his objections.'"

It noted the Colorado Civil Rights Commission exhibited that very "hostility."

One commissioner called Phillips' Christianity a "despicable piece of rhetoric" and likened religion to the Holocaust.

When homosexual bakers were asked to create a cake condemning homosexuality, they refused on the grounds it was a message they couldn't support. The state allowed that, but demanded to re-indoctrinate Phillips because he wanted the same control over his messages.

In the Oregon case, state officials not only attacked Christianity, but likened the bakery's refusal to promote homosexuality to cases involving physical violence and prolonged sexual harassment.

The evidence shows, the court was told, that Oregon's treatment of the Kleins was "neither tolerant nor respectful of religious beliefs."

The Oregon case earlier drew the ire of said Samaritan's Purse CEO Franklin Graham.

"He [Avakian] stated that the Kleins had 'disobey[ed]' Oregon law and needed to be 'rehabilitate[d],'" Graham said.

On Facebook, Graham wrote: "This is unbelievable! ... Brad Avakian, Oregon’s Bureau of Labor & Industries Commissioner, upheld [the previous] ruling that the Kleins have to pay the lesbian couple $135,000 for a long list of alleged damages including: 'acute loss of confidence,' 'high blood pressure,' 'impaired digestion,' 'loss of appetite,' 'migraine headaches,' 'pale and sick at home after work,' 'resumption of smoking habit,' 'weight gain,' and 'worry.' Give me a break. In my opinion, this couple should pay the Kleins $135,000 for all they’ve been through!"

Graham said that even "more outrageous is that Avakian has also now ordered the Kleins to 'cease and desist' from speaking publicly about not wanting to bake cakes for same-sex weddings based on their Christian beliefs.'

"This is an outright attack on their ‪#‎freedomofspeech‬. A senior attorney with The Heritage Foundation was absolutely right when he said, 'It is exactly this kind of oppressive persecution by government officials that led the pilgrims to America.'"

The damages were for the alleged "insults" suffered in 2013 when Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer were preparing to marry. After the Kleins, citing their religious beliefs, declined to make the couple a cake, the women immediately complained to the state. They eventually were awarded $75,000 and $60,000.