Colorado Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit against baker who refused to make gender transition cake

Colorado's Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit on Tuesday against baker Jack Phillips who refused to bake a cake for a transgender woman. Autumn Scardina requested a cake from Jack and Masterpiece Cakeshop that was pink with blue frosting to celebrate her gender transition. 

The initial lawsuit was filed in 2017 after the Lakewood bakery refused to make the cake. 

In the dismissal, justices said in the 6-3 majority opinion that Scardina had not exhausted her options to seek redress through another court before filing her lawsuit. 

"We express no view on the merits of these claims," Justice Melissa Hart wrote for the majority.

However, the justices in the minority noted that every factfinder and judicial officer who heard the case concluded the baker's conduct violated the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. The dissenters also said they were concerned that Phillips would construe the ruling as a vindication.  

Scardina's attorney, John McHugh, expressed disappointment and said he was evaluating if there were any remaining legal options, "The Colorado Supreme Court decided to avoid the merits of this issue by inventing an argument no party raised."

Phillips' attorney, Jake Werner with the Arizona-based firm Alliance for Defending Freedom, had argued before the high court that the baker's actions were protected free speech and that whatever Scardina said she was going to do with the cake mattered for his rights.

Werner said Tuesday that his client had been pursued and mocked for years by those who disagreed with him.

"Enough is enough," Werner said. "Jack has been dragged through courts for over a decade. It's time to leave him alone."

In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had acted with anti-religious bias in enforcing the anti-discrimination law against Phillips after he refused to bake a cake celebrating the wedding of Charlie Craig and Dave Mullins in 2012. The justices called the commission unfairly dismissive of Phillips' religious beliefs.