Posted on 07/06/2015 11:57:12 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
By decree of the great state of Oregon, the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa must pay $135,000 to the lesbian couple whom they “mentally raped” by refusing to bake their wedding cake. This was expected, but the final judgment, handed down last Thursday, came with another twist. Aaron and Melissa Klein have also been given a “cease and desist” order, which effectively decrees they must refrain from stating their continued intention to abide by their moral beliefs.
Land of the What-Was-That?
Let’s be clear on why this is so sinister. There are times when speech rights conflict with other legitimate social goods. The public’s right to know can conflict with individual privacy rights. Sometimes threats to public safety warrant keeping secrets. There can be interesting debates about intellectual property rights. These cases can get tricky, and we should all understand that speech rights necessarily do have certain pragmatic limits.
None of those concerns apply here. The Kleins did not threaten public safety. They violated no one’s privacy or property rights. Rather, the Oregon labor commissioner, Brad Avakian, wanted to silence them because the content of their speech. Presumably he was angry that the Kleins’ defiant stance had earned them a potentially profitable reputation as heroes for religious freedom. They were meant to be humiliated and cowed; instead there was a real chance they would land on their feet. So they had to be gagged to prevent that from happening.
If the First Amendment doesn’t apply to a case like this, it is meaningless.
(Excerpt) Read more at thefederalist.com ...
Brad Avakian has some interesting information showing up on Zabasearch (public domain).
http://www.zabasearch.com/people/bradley+p+avakian/portland+or/2719694444
Isn’t there a big organization of lawyers that are totally dedicated to the pro bono defense of 1st amendment cases especially where the perpetrator is the government?
Do I really need to put a /sarc on this?
The undesirables must be identified and removed. They stink and are a blot on our progressive society. But, let’s do it legally. Then in the name of law, we can mark them, shut down their businesses, force them out of work, pack them up and ship them off to the camps so we don’t have to see them, and where work will set them free.
They don’t exist. What happens to them in the camps is irrelevant; as long as our progressive brave new world does not have to see them or acknowledge their existence or non-existence.
You’re being generous. I’d say maybe 85%....................
Who was it that said "Millions for defense and zero for tribute"? If the government wants to act like the Barbary Pirates we need to treat them that way.
This autocratic buffoon is not even a judge, but an unelected bureaucrat who runs Oregon’s Department of Labor.
Tyranny ... plain and simple
Forcing the baker to make the cake wasn't a goal. The customer wasn't aware of the bakery's stand on homosexuals when they went in to order the cake. Once the baker told the customer that they would not bake the cake for their wedding and the customer went to a lawyer then I'm sure the goal wasn't to force them to bake the cake but to exact some form of revenge for the baker's stance.
Would it be better for them to speak out and have the judge go after them or to file an appeal against his ruling?
“...and where exactly does the good judge live?”
I don’t mean to be pedantic, but I think it’s very important to emphasize that Brad Avakian is not a judge, he’s a bureaucrat.
I’m troubled by the Homosexual Left’s complete disregard of the rule of law. As long as they agree with an outcome they don’t care how it is arrived at; Supreme Court judges writing laws or paper pushing a-holes like Avakian persecuting Bible believing Christians.
I don’t believe that any of this will end well.
And if the bakery had been allowed to post a sign stating who they would serve and who they would not then this whole thing could have been avoided. But legally I don't think they could do that.
Thank you for the clarification.
I wonder why the author referred to him as a judge?
Nevertheless, since Big Bad Brad is not a judge, I will not refer to his little diatribe as a “judgement”.
I shall call it a “fudgement”.
I hope the family has a good lawyer. Now is not the time to represent yourself. How can that couple sleep at night, doing such a spiteful, evil thing? Who employs the lesbian couple?
Robert Goodloe Harper.
THE BILL OF RIGHTS - Amendment 1
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
I shall call it a “fudgement”.
I think that is a valid term. Now if only we could send Avakian packing, in the other sense of the word.
It will be the obligation of the state attorney general to defend this travesty of a ruling in court. If there are grown-ups in charge, the state won't mount much of defense of its indefensible actions here. On the other hand, I seriously doubt whether there are many, if any, grown-ups working at the AG’s office in the state of Oregon, as the government of the state is overrun with communists, zealots and lunatics.
As others have pointed out, the Kleins have been “convicted” by a bunch of bureaucrats with an agenda, not a court of law. Oregon is particularly noxious in allowing its state agencies to serve as prosecutor, judge and jury in proceedings of this kind - in other words, they operate as an unrestrained and unconstitutional tyranny.
_______________
State and fed have used agency kangaroo courts such as human rights commissions, state and federal EPA, IRS and others to circumvent the Constitution.
Thanks for posting the excerpt on Post #2. It sounds like something out of ‘The Onion’. Sadly it is not.
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!!! Sorry, couldn't help myself, you make a great point in your post and I hope the bakers are able to pursue this matter to the fullest extent.
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