California Supreme Court refuses cake artist’s plea to protect her business Cathy will ask U.S. Supreme Court to take her case

WASHINGTON – The California Supreme Court late yesterday refused to protect a cake artist’s right to design cakes that reflect her faith, putting the case on track to the U.S. Supreme Court. In California Department of Civil Rights v. Tastries, California opened an investigation into custom cake artist 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.” Becket, LiMandri & Jonna LLP, and the Thomas More Society are working to protect Cathy’s ability to design and create custom pieces in peace. 

Cathy Miller is a faithful Christian and custom cake artist. 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.  

“As the United States Supreme Court has made clear twice already, creative professionals like Cathy Miller shouldn’t have to choose between following their faith and practicing their art,” said Adèle Keim, senior counsel at Becket. “California should have dropped its campaign against Cathy years ago and let her design in peace. We plan to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court to defend Cathy’s right to make custom creations that are consistent with her faith.”  

Early on, Cathy realized that sometimes customers would ask her to create designs that contradict her faith, so she developed written design standards to ensure that all of Tastries’ custom creations reflect her religious beliefs. 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. In February of this year, a California appeals court ruled against Cathy. Becket, LiMandri & Jonna LLP and the Thomas More Society appealed the decision in March.

“Cathy has always been clear that she was only trying to follow her faith and her conscience in standing up for what she believes in—and did so in a respectful, polite, and loving way,” said Charles LiMandri, Partner at LiMandri & Jonna LLP and Thomas More Society Special Counsel. “While it is disappointing the California Supreme Court has refused to correct the injustice Cathy has endured, we hope the U.S. Supreme Court will chart a different path and restore Cathy’s religious liberty.” 

Cathy is represented by Becket, LiMandri & Jonna LLP and the Thomas More Society.  

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