from MSN.com: U.S. top court weighs baker's refusal to make cake for gay couple

U.S. top court weighs baker's refusal to make cake for gay couple

WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday is set to hear arguments in a major case on whether certain businesses can refuse service to gay couples if they oppose same-sex marriage on religious grounds in a dispute involving a conservative Christian baker in Colorado who declined to make a wedding cake for two men.

The nine justices at 10 a.m. (1500 GMT) are due to hear an appeal brought by Jack Phillips, a baker who runs Masterpiece Cakeshop in the Denver suburb of Lakewood, of a state court ruling that his refusal violated a Colorado anti-discrimination law.

In one of the biggest cases of the conservative-majority court's nine-month term, the justices must decide whether the baker's action was constitutionally protected, meaning he can avoid punishment under the Colorado law.

Phillips contends that law violated his rights to freedom of speech and free exercise of religion under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. The Supreme Court arguments will focus on his free speech claim, based on the idea that creating a custom cake is a form of free expression.

source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-top-court-weighs-bakers-refusal-to-make-cake-for-gay-couple/ar-BBGeUcS?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp

U.S. top court weighs baker's refusal to make cake for gay couple www.msn.com The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday is set to hear arguments in a major case on whether certain businesses can refuse service to gay couples if they oppose same-sex marriage on religious grounds in a dispute involving a conservative Christian baker in Colorado who declined to make a wedding cake for two men.