Catharine Miller, et al. v. Civil Rights Department
AdministrativeLaw FirstAmendment Privacy JusticiabilityDoctri
Whether the Free Speech Clause protects a baker from being compelled to create a custom wedding cake for a same-sex wedding ceremony when the baker believes the cake would express an endorsement of the ceremony
Petitioner Cathy Miller runs a small bakery in Bakersfield, California , where she designs and creates custom wedding cakes. After she declined to design and create a wedding cake for a same -sex wedding ceremony, the State of California began an 8-year civil prosecution against Miller and her bakery , alleging violations of California’s public accommodation laws. Prosecution started after this Court’s grant o f certiorari in Masterpiece Cakeshop and continued through its decision s in that case , Fulton , and 303 Creative . After a week -long bench trial, t he state trial court ruled for Petitioners under the Free Speech Clause . The state appeals court reversed , holding that this Court’s precedents were inapplicable , that the white, multi tiered cake Miller refused to design “ conveyed no particularized message about the nature of marriage ,” and that the law was generally applicable under the Free Exercise Clause because it did not grant unfettered discretion or exemptions for identical secular conduct . The state s upreme court declined review. The question s presented are: 1. Whether the Free Speech Clause ’s protection against compelled participation in a ceremony only applies where third parties would view that participation as expressing endorsement of the ceremony . 2. Whether proving a lack of general applicability under the Free Exercise Clause requires showing unfettered discretion or categorical exemptions for identical secular conduct . 3. Whether Employment Division v. Smith should be overruled .