By the time it does, the salutary lessons of Masterpiece must have been learned. Before long, a Court without Justice Kennedy will face such critical questions again, and under social circumstances that will be equally or even more intense. In fact, Masterpiece Cakeshop itself is already back in litigation after it turned away a customer who requested a cake to celebrate a gender transition. Now is the moment to underscore these aspects of the decision, because additional cases pitting religious freedom against equality law are percolating in lower courts.
#REALITY PRINCIPLE FULL#
On the one hand, Masterpiece established several broad principles that can work to promote full and equal citizenship for all Americans in future cases. Some of these are salutary, while others are more troubling. But this reading overlooks aspects of the Court’s ruling that may well be consequential. Kennedy sought to escape a conflict between two of his paramount commitments, to religious freedom and to equal citizenship for LGBTQ people, by writing a majority opinion that was specific to the peculiar facts in Colorado and therefore limited in its precedential effect. Colorado Civil Rights Commission as narrow and regrettable.
Many liberals have received the Supreme Court’s decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop.