In Phoenix, Arizona believing that religious liberty permits you to refuse a job creating custom artwork for a same-sex wedding could get you jail time. A problem that has not convinced state courts to vacate the city ordinance despite the Masterpiece Cake Shop Supreme Court Decision. (citations removed)
Related:
Once a court concludes that conduct is expressive, the Constitution limits the government’s authority to restrict or compel it. “[O]ne important manifestation of the principle of free speech is that one who chooses to speak may also decide ‘what not to say’” and “tailor” the content of his message as he sees fit. This rule “applies not only to expressions of value, opinion, or endorsement, but equally to statements of fact the speaker would rather avoid.” Hurley, supra, at 573. And it “makes no difference” whether the government is regulating the “creati[on], distributi[on], or consum[ption]” of the speech.
If a custom cake is protected free speech (expressive), how is custom art, not?
Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, who own Brush & Nib Studio, make custom artwork using painting, calligraphy and handlettering. They filed suit against the city of Phoenix, as a Phoenix city ordinance threatens them with up to six months and/or a fine of $2,500 each day they refuse to make the artwork. First the women filed in state court to overturn the ordinance, but lost in a court of appeals, prompting them to appeal to the state’s Supreme Court, which said on November 20 it would hear the case.
The problem, if I had to guess, is that they have no standing. No service has been denied so no fine or citation issued. Does that mean they shouldn’t try?
The Arizona State Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case. It the potential for infringement was not worth considering I can’t image they’d make the time.