NBC News’ Pete Williams has won three national news Emmy awards. He has a reputation for offering very factual reports with little to no personal opinion. Williams for decades has primarily covered the U.S. Supreme Court and Justice Department.
Monday morning on MSNBC Williams gave his report on the Supreme Court’s order in the “Sweetcakes” case, involving an Oregon Christian couple who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. The case is exceptionally more complicated than that – including alleged doxxing of the same-sex couple and the subsequent death threats they say they received.
The U.S. Supreme Court set aside the $135,000 the anti-gay bakers, Melissa and Aaron Klein of Sweetcakes by Melissa, were ordered to pay to the same-sex couples they refused, and told the lower court to re-examine the case in light of the SCOTUS ruling in favor of Colorado anti-gay Christian baker Jack Phillips – which the court had originally made clear applied only to the Phillips case. The Court ruled Phillips was the victim of anti-religious animus by the state.
Now, Pete Williams appears to be wondering about the Supreme Court’s order, sending the case back to a lower court for review.
Asked what today’s decision means, Williams responds, “I’m not sure,” then delivered his report.
“So today the Supreme Court sent this Oregon case back with instructions to reconsider in light of the Colorado case, but none of the infirmities that existed in the Colorado case are present in the Oregon case, so I’m not exactly sure what the Oregon courts are going to conclude from this,” Williams told viewers.
“My guess is that if the state sues again, and it probably will, the Oregon courts will rule the same way and the case will come back here,” meaning to the Supreme Court.
“I don’t know what the [Supreme] Court gains here other than perhaps time, and letting other cases like this percolate up,” Williams said.
Exactly.
It would appear the Supreme Court is attempting to lay the groundwork for special religious rights that would supersede the rights of LGBTQ people to not be discriminated against.
It would appear Williams might agree.
Watch: