Civil Rights Department of California v. Tastries
Case Snapshot
Cathy Miller is cake artist, faithful Christian, and owner of Tastries Bakery in California. For over a decade, couples have commissioned Cathy to make custom wedding cakes. When a couple approaches Cathy to make their cake, Cathy sits down with them for an hour-long design meeting where she lets them sample sixteen cake flavors, explains her Christian understanding of marriage, and talks with them about the symbolic role that their custom cake will play in their wedding. Seven years ago, a lesbian couple commissioned Cathy to make their wedding cake. Cathy explained that because of her faith she could not be involved in celebrating a same-sex marriage, but referred them to a comparable custom baker nearby who could. The couple filed a civil rights complaint against Cathy, and California has been prosecuting her for seven years. California has repeatedly compared Cathy’s religious beliefs about marriage to racism and asserted that Cathy’s beliefs harm “the dignity of all Californians.” Meanwhile, Cathy and her staff have lost contracts, received death threats, and been the victims of criminal harassment because of her faith.
Status
After a week-long trial, the California Superior Court of Kern County ruled for Cathy. California appealed the lower court’s ruling, and in early 2025, the appeals court ruled against Cathy and her bakery. On March 20, 2025, Becket appealed the ruling to the California Supreme Court to protect Cathy’s freedom to operate her bakery in peace.
Share this Case
Case Summary
Meet Cathy Miller, cake artist and faithful Christian
Cathy Miller is a faithful Christian and cake artist living in Bakersfield, California. Cathy believes that her bakery, Tastries, is “God’s business.” Her bakery’s mission statement is to “honor God in all that we do,” and her Baptist faith influences everything from the Bible verses she puts on her business cards to the music she plays in the shop.
Cathy’s process for designing wedding cakes goes beyond just batter and icing. When Cathy meets with couples, she takes time to get to know them and help them understand the religious and symbolic meaning behind the wedding cake they are commissioning. She invests her creative gifts to help launch couples into their lives together, ensuring that each cake is not only visually stunning but also deeply meaningful to the couple that commissions it.
Early on, Cathy realized that sometimes customers would ask her to create designs that her faith forbids, so she developed written design standards to ensure that all her artistic work reflects her religious beliefs. For example, Tastries will not design custom bakery items that depict gory or pornographic images, celebrate drug use, witchcraft, or violence. Cathy will also not design wedding cakes that violate the Christian sacrament of marriage—including cakes celebrating divorce and same-sex unions. When customers ask for custom items that conflict with these design standards, Tastries refers them to a nearby bakery.
Cathy’s livelihood targeted by California
In 2017, a same-sex couple commissioned Cathy to design and create a cake to celebrate their wedding. When Cathy met the couple at their design meeting, Cathy realized that she was being asked to design a custom wedding cake for a same-sex wedding, which she could not do. After a moment of prayer and reflection, she kindly told the couple that she could not design their cake but would be happy to refer them to a nearby bakery. In the days and weeks that followed, Tastries was flooded with angry social media posts and harassing emails and phone calls. The California Department of Civil Rights soon filed a lawsuit in state court to punish Cathy for upholding her religious beliefs.
Cathy seeks to serve her community in accordance with her beliefs
Six years after California started its prosecution of Cathy, and after a five-day trial, a judge on the Superior Court of California ruled that Cathy cannot be forced to design a wedding cake that violates her sincere religious beliefs. On October 23, 2023, the state appealed the court’s decision to the California Fifth District Court of Appeal.
With the help of Becket, Cathy filed her brief on January 18, 2024. Cathy should not be forced to make the choice between upholding her faith and operating her business. Americans have the freedom to bring their beliefs into the public square without being prosecuted by government officials. Oral argument took place at the California Fifth District Court of Appeal on December 17, 2024.
On February 11, 2025, the court ruled against Cathy and her bakery. Becket has appealed the ruling to the California Supreme Court to protect Cathy’s freedom to operate her bakery in peace.
Importance to religious liberty:
- Individual freedom: Religious freedom protects the rights of individuals to observe their faith at all times, including in the workplace.