A case in which the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that a bakery violated the state’s civil rights law by refusing to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple has been returned to the Oregon Court of Appeals by the US Supreme Court. Wikimedia Commons/Senate Democrats The US Supreme Court acted on June 30 to revive for “further consideration” a case in which the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that an Oregon bakery violated the state’s civil rights law by refusing to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple. In a ruling on the court’s “shadow docket,” the Supreme Court voted to “vacate” the state court’s ruling and send the case back to the lower court for reconsideration in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis , announced earlier that day. In 303 Creative, the court ruled 6-3 that Lorie Smith, a website designer, had a constitutional free speech right to refuse to design websites for same-sex marriages. Justice Neil Gorsuch’s opinion accepted the 10 th Circuit Court of Appeals’ characterization of website design as “pure speech,” as well as Smith’s contention that having to design such a website would compel her […]

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