Aaron and Melissa Klein Say Ruling Against Them Violates Their First Amendment Rights to Religious Freedom
The owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa have filed a case in the Oregon Court of Appeals claiming a judgment against them last year violates their First Amendment religious freedom and freedom of speech rights. Aaron and Melissa Klein were ordered to pay $135,000 to a same-sex couple after refusing to bake them a wedding cake, but not for refusing to bake the cake. The order stated it was a result of the emotional harm the Kleins caused.
LOOK:Â Almost Everything You’ve Heard About The Anti-Gay Sweet Cakes Wedding Cake Case Is (Probably) Wrong
Now they have a new attorney and flashy website designed to continue the financial windfall their case has garnered. Even though they were ordered to pay $135,000 in damages, they raked in well over $550,000 at last count.Â
Today’s press release strains credulity, delivering an interesting spin on their new court filing.
“First Liberty Institute and Boyden Gray, former White House Counsel for President George H. W. Bush, filed a brief with the Oregon Court of Appeals on behalf of Aaron and Melissa Klein, an Oregon couple who lost their bakery for running their business according to their religious beliefs.”
The Kleins of course did not lose their business at all. Unless they have sold it or somehow let it lapse, they still own the Sweet Cakes by Melissa trademark. Years ago they chose to close their storefront shop and take their cake baking business online, where you today can buy a cake, a wedding cake, cupcakes, and other baked goods: Sweet Cakes.
“In the brief, the Kleins’ attorneys argue that the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) violated the Kleins’ constitutional rights to religious freedom, free speech, and due process,” the press release states. It goes on to claim “Commissioner Avakian deprived the Kleins of their right to due process with a fair hearing before an impartial tribunal.”
First Liberty claims “as devout Christians, the Kleins believed that participating in the wedding celebration would violate their faith, so they declined to design and create the custom cake.”
That argument has been ruled invalid repeatedly, but of course they are welcome to try it again.
The statement goes on to claim that the “Oregon government responded by punishing them with a $135,000 penalty and ordering them never again to say certain things about their religious faith. As a result, the Kleins were forced to shut down their bakery.”
Again, Sweet Cakes.
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EARLIER:
Same-Sex Couple In Sweet Cakes By Melissa Case Received Death Threats
Sweet Cakes Bakers Still Actively Fundraising, Cash Pouring In
‘Sweet Cakes’ Baker Melissa Klein: The State Took ‘God’s Money’ From Us
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Image: Screenshot via First Liberty/YouTube