Posted on 07/09/2015 7:46:17 AM PDT by xzins
Two Christian bakers who refused to bake a cake for a lesbian wedding have been ordered to pay $135,000 in damages by July 13 or else the state of Oregon could place a lien on their home.
Aaron and Melissa Klein, the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, were punished by the state's Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI) for unlawfully discriminating against a same-sex couple.
The Kleins, who are devout evangelical Christians, argued that baking the cake would be a violation of their religious beliefs.
The BOLI ruling ordered the mom-and-pop bakers to pay $135,000 to the lesbian couple. They were also slapped with a gag order that prohibits them from speaking publicly about their refusal to participate in or bake wedding cakes for same-sex unions.
And now they have until July 13 to pay the damages or else face additional fines and a possible lien on their home.
"This is intimidation and bullying—that's exactly what it is," Klein told me in a telephone interview." They are trying to strong-arm me into handing over $135,000 to the two girls and if I win on appeal—they will never pay me back."
A BOLI spokesman confirmed they sent a standard payment letter to the Kleins' attorney.
"The letter informs them that if we do not hear from them, we may turn the matter over to the Department of Revenue, which can place a lien on real property," the spokesman told me.
BOLI said they would also be willing to accept either a full payment or payment arrangements.
"Of course, they can also ask for a stay of enforcement while they pursue their appeal," the spokesman said.
But there's a catch. The person who will determine whether or not to stay the order—is BOLI Commissioner Brad Avakian—a vocal supporter of the LGBTQIA movement.
"The judge, jury and executioner are all in one place," said Anna Harmon, the Kleins' attorney. "He is intent on using his office to root out thought and speech with which he personally disagrees."
Harmon, who is affiliated with Alliance Defending Freedom, said they were expecting the payment letter that came from BOLI.
"This letter, while it's the normal procedure, continues to show the state is not backing down," she told me. "They don't think they did anything wrong here."
Avakian's strong arm tactics against the Christian bakers have outraged Christians across the nation.
"This guy would make Mussolini proud," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research council. "This is a wannabe dictator."
It certainly appears that Avakian and the state of Oregon have declared war on the Klein family.
"Not only do they want to drive them out of business, but they want to make them homeless," Perkins told me.
The Kleins say they are filing a stay and do plan on appealing the state's decision.
"Brad and his cohorts at BOLI have overstepped their constitutional rights in requiring me to cease and desist from my constitutional freedom," Mr. Klein said. "I will fight them with every last breath I have."
Mrs. Klein said she would not be intimidated by Avakian's hard line tactics.
"We are so going to fight this, oh my gosh," she said. "It's making us stronger and emboldening us to stand up to this. Aaron and I are fighting for every American out there—for their freedom. We are not backing down at all."
And while the viciousness of the attacks against the Kleins might be unsettling—Harmon said it really should serve as a source of inspiration.
"What a time to be an American," she said. "It's a hard time—our freedoms are challenged—but what a time to be able to stand and have courage and say, 'I have a moment in time where I can be a voice for that.'"
And the Kleins are not ready to throw in the towel just yet.
"He definitely messed with the wrong Christians," Mrs. Klein told me.
Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations. Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter, be sure to join his Facebook page, and follow him on Twitter. His latest book is God Less America.
They could eventually end up winning a civil suit against the homo-Nazis
He needs to recuse (to withdraw from a position of judging so as to avoid any semblance of partiality or bias. ) himself.
His decision will obviously be bias.
Everyone deserves equal treatment under the law.
And the aclu is where?
Any fine in this case is wrong. If they pay this extortion the rate will only go up.
Trump could talk about it.
He could ALSO promise to cover their fines and finance a countersuit by them on a whole host of Constitutional issues. He has the financial resources to really mess this little Fascist up.
Actually, didn’t Franklin Graham promise to do just that after their GoFundMe effort was put down?
You just have to do it correctly. Forget to turn off the stove with the pot of grease you used to fry your morning bacon. An honest mistake and unfortunate that it was right next to a cabinet full of flammable accelerants. Probably should have stored those in a different location. Oh well, lesson learned.
I think we all need to look to Randy Alcorn as an example to emulate with respect to how to respond to the Christian persecution going on in the USA today.
You are correct, the Kleins are doing what we always say we wish Christians and conservatives would do-fight back and not back down, but the lack of meaningful support is exactly why more people don’t do it, or why they end up having to fold, no matter how hard they tried to fight. They can’t fight this alone against the weight and power of this fascist state-what would be the best way to support them? Giving money is great, but it can’t be the only thing, because if they lose the court battle, that will be just money that gets stolen from them by the court. They need some heavy-weight lawyers-where are the Christian heavy-hitters fighting their case? Can’t they see that if the Kleins lose, all of us are next? You’d think they’d help them out of future self-interest, if no better reason. What can the rest of us do? I really want to know, I’d be willing to go there and take a stand in support of them if we can enough numbers that it doesn’t actually harm them by making their support look feeble-and then there’s the fact that the media will ignore any number of supporters for them, unless the number is so large, and that would need to be very large, that they can’t be ignored. We could call ourselves “Freedom Fighters”, taking a page from the civil rights’ players book. I’m not trying to shoot every potential action down, just saying that we do need to do something, and we need to make it matter, because it would be hard enough to get a large number together there just one time.
File a civil rights lawsuit against Avakian and Oregon.
Allege Monel.
Thats not a really good definition of totalitarianism. Look at it this way:
Authoritarians want control.
Totalitarians want control AND your conversion to their beliefs.
Dunno...but unfortunately Reverend Graham doesn’t get the same airtime as Trump.
I’d love another shitstorm about this.
They need to win a civil rights suit against the judge for imposing “cruel and unusual punishment” in violation of the 8th amendment.
Yep. Bundy Ranch
You’re right. It is easy for me to say.
But, if they pay 135,000, then how is that different than allowing the house to be burned to the ground?
I don’t want them to give anything at all.
They used to execute believers in the old days... now they just ruin them financially. This cannot stand.
Or the Oath Keepers. It would be a good way to gain membership.
Where are the Christian equivalents of a Soros who could provide funds for busses for supporters to go there and make our support for the Kleins seen? I know conservatives are willing to pay their own way, but that does make it more difficult to get the large numbers, because not enough of us have the kind of time and money this needs, without outside help.
Just thinking about the money those “blab it and grab it” types rake in from misguided suckers makes me angry, when I think that they are the exact people who could fund Christians to go there to support the Kleins, if they weren’t too busy funding their lavish lifestyles with the pittances from widows.
I’d burn my house down before I’d ever turn it over to the Sodomite Nazis.
Gluten free tends to be heavy and mealy. Often, the alternative ingredients substitute bean sugars that bring a new level of digestive upset. I've reached the point where I reject most of the gluten free "alternatives". I'm happy to just not eat any grains other than rice. It makes for a short menu.
So would I. A month after I’d stopped paying the insurance.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.