Daily Brew: Today is primary day in eight states

June 5, 2018

Primary day in Alabama, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota   Primary day in Alabama, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota Bookmark our results page and check back this evening for vote totals. Sign up today for our Heart of the Primaries newsletter to receive a special Wednesday edition with a review and analysis of the June 5 primaries.         Masterpiece Cakeshop decision is reached The Supreme Court of the United States ruled 7-2 in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution by issuing a cease-and-desist order to the bakery's owner after he refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple in 2012, citing religious objections to same-sex marriages. The couple (Charlie Craig and David Mullins) filed discrimination charges against the bakery's owner (Jack C. Phillips) under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA). An administrative law judge found in favor of the couple, and the Colorado Civil Rights Commission upheld this ruling, issuing a cease-and-desist order to Phillips. Phillips appealed this order to the Colorado Court of Appeals, which affirmed the commission's decision. Phillips appealed the case to the Supreme Court of the United States, presenting the following question to the court: "Whether applying Colorado's public accommodations law to compel Phillips to create expression that violates his sincerely held religious beliefs about marriage violates the Free Speech or Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment." Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy penned the majority decision, which was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, Elena Kagan, and Neil Gorsuch. Kennedy wrote the following in the court's decision: "The Commission’s hostility [to Phillips' religious beliefs] was inconsistent with the First Amendment’s guarantee that our laws be applied in a manner that is neutral toward religion. Phillips was entitled to a neutral decisionmaker who would give full and fair consideration to his religious objection as he sought to assert it in all of the circumstances in which this case was presented, considered, and decided." Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, joined by Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissented: "The different outcomes the Court features do not evidence hostility to religion of the kind we have previously held to signal a free-exercise violation, nor do the comments by one or two members of one of the four decision-making entities considering this case justify reversing the judgment below." Learn more→ For a weekly update on noteworthy federal court decisions and transitions, subscribe to our Bold Justice newsletter The administrative state and Masterpiece Cakeshop The decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop sheds light on the role of administrative law judges (ALJ) at the state level. After a discrimination complaint was filed against Phillips, a state ALJ issued a written decision stating that Phillip’s actions constituted discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The full Colorado Civil Rights Commission affirmed the ALJ’s ruling. Phillips appealed the decision to the Colorado Court of Appeals and, later, to the United States Supreme Court. At the federal level, ALJs preside over administrative hearings and issue rulings to resolve disputes between federal agencies, affected parties, or private parties. They have the authority to hold hearings, issue subpoenas, review findings, and administer rulings. Many state and local entities, including Colorado, have authorized their own ALJs with varying degrees of scope and authority. State ALJs perform similar tasks as federal ALJs, but their work is specific to state-level administrative agencies. Learn more→