16 states, prominent legal scholars, & diverse faith groups urge Supreme Court to protect custom baker Diverse coalition asks Court to stop California’s targeting of Cathy Miller for her faith

WASHINGTON – Sixteen states, prominent legal scholars, and diverse faith groups asked the Supreme Court yesterday to protect a Christian baker’s right to create custom-designed wedding cakes that reflect her faith. In Cathy Miller v. Civil Rights Department, California opened an investigation into Cathy Miller after she explained to a same-sex couple that her faith did not allow her to personally design their wedding cake. For almost a decade, California has ridiculed Cathy for her religious beliefs about marriage and argued that Cathy’s actions harm “the dignity of all Californians.” (Watch this video to learn more). Becket, LiMandri & Jonna LLP, and the Thomas More Society are working to protect Cathy’s ability to design and create custom baked goods in peace. 

Cathy Miller is a faithful Christian and baker. For over a decade, Cathy has brought her unique touch to custom cakes and cookies at Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield. As a former teacher, Cathy’s process for designing wedding cakes is unique: she meets with each couple for over an hour and spends time teaching them the religious and symbolic meaning behind the wedding cake they’re commissioning to celebrate their union.

Highlights from yesterday’s filings include: 

• 16 states, led by Texas, urging the Court to articulate a clear rule protecting the expressive nature of wedding cakes so that lower courts can correctly resolve cases like Cathy’s. 

• Religious liberty law scholars, including Michael W. McConnell, asking the Court to revisit Employment Division v. Smith, a ruling which has allowed states like California to eschew the Constitution’s robust protections for religious liberty. 

• Diverse faith groups, including the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and the Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy, emphasizing that people of faith can lose their livelihood and suffer far-worse religious discrimination when states like California use their public accommodations laws to try to purge religious beliefs from believers’ own businesses. 

• Prominent legal groups, including the Manhattan Institute and the Pacific Justice Institute, arguing that the First Amendment forbids California from compelling religious objectors like Cathy to participate in religiously meaningful ceremonies by creating a symbol—a wedding cake—universally recognized as a celebration of that ceremony.

To make sure all her custom creations conformed to her religious beliefs, Cathy developed written design standards. For example, Tastries will not design custom bakery items that depict gory or pornographic images, celebrate drug use, or demean others. Cathy will also not design wedding cakes that celebrate ideals that violate the Christian sacrament of marriage. But in 2017, the California Civil Rights Department sued Cathy after she told a same-sex couple that she could not personally design and create their wedding cake and offered to put them in touch with another custom baker. In the days and weeks that followed, Tastries was flooded with angry social media posts, death threats, and harassing emails and phone calls.  

California put Cathy through a five-day trial. The trial court ruled for Cathy, finding that she “serve[d], and employ[ed]” people of all sexual orientations, that her “only intent, her only motivation, was fidelity to her sincere Christian beliefs,” and that this was not discrimination under California law. But California continued to prosecute Cathy. Earlier this year, a California appeals court ruled against Cathy, and the state Supreme Court refused to hear her case. 

Statements for media use: 

“I am humbled by this outpouring of support for my freedom to serve my community with joy, compassion, and faith in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” said Cathy Miller, owner of Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, California. “Knowing that so many others stand with me strengthens my resolve to keep creating in a way that honors Him. I pray the Court will hear my case.” 

“The diverse voices rallying to Cathy’s side—states, respected scholars, and faith communities from across the country—make clear that her case is about far more than one bakery,” said Adèle Keim, senior counsel at Becket. “California’s relentless campaign against Cathy is unjust and un-American. The Justices should end California’s crusade and affirm that no one should be punished for living out their faith.”

“The tremendous outpouring of support for Cathy Miller, seen in the many amici briefs now before the Supreme Court, is both inspiring and humbling. Cathy’s faith runs deep; she lives it boldly, joyfully, and with integrity,” said Charles LiMandri, Partner at LiMandri & Jonna LLP and Thomas More Society Special Counsel. “And she pours that same spirit into her work, bringing happiness to everyone she serves. With the opportunity to be heard at the Supreme Court, Cathy is not only defending her own religious liberty, she is representing millions of Americans who live out their faith.” 

For more information or to arrange an interview with a Becket attorney, contact Ryan Colby at [email protected] or 202-349-7219.