Cathy Miller v. Civil Rights Department
Case Snapshot
Cathy Miller, a faithful Christian and owner of Tastries Bakery, has created custom wedding cakes and baked goods for over a decade. In 2017, a same-sex couple asked Cathy to design a custom cake for their wedding—something she could not do because of her Christian beliefs about marriage. After Cathy referred the couple to another baker who would design their cake, the couple filed a civil rights complaint against Cathy. California has been prosecuting Cathy in court ever since.
Status
After almost a decade of harassment from the state of California, in August 2025 Cathy asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and protect her ability to design custom wedding cakes in peace.
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Case Summary
Meet Cathy Miller, cake baker and faithful Christian
Cathy Miller is a faithful Christian and custom baker 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 told the couple that she could not design their cake but would be happy to refer them to a nearby baker who could help them. In the backlash that followed, Tastries was flooded with angry social media posts, harassing emails and phone calls, and a civil rights investigation.
The California Department of Civil Rights soon filed a lawsuit in state court to punish Cathy for upholding her religious beliefs. Ever since, 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.
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, LiMandri & Jonna LLP, and the Thomas More Society, Cathy filed her brief at the appeals court in January 2024, asking the court to protect her right to operate her business according to her faith. In February 2025, the state appeals court ruled against Cathy and her bakery.
Cathy takes her case to the High Court
Cathy appealed to the California Supreme Court, but the court declined to take her case. On August 26, 2025, Cathy filed a petition to the United States Supreme Court, asking the Justices to protect her ability to design and create custom wedding cakes in peace. The Court should take Cathy’s case and ensure that all Americans have the freedom to bring their beliefs into the public square without being prosecuted by government officials.
Importance to religious liberty:
- Individual freedom: Religious freedom protects the rights of individuals to observe their faith at all times, including in the workplace.