Florida – October 14, 2022 – America’s Future, Inc., a national leader in the fight to preserve individual rights, promote American values and traditions, and protect the nation’s Constitutional Republic, announced today that it filed an Amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in the case, Klein v Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, Dkt. No. 22-204, supporting the Petitioners’ constitutional rights under the First Amendment free speech and free exercise of religion clauses.
The brief was filed on October 7, 2022 with four other amici nonprofit organizations requesting relief for the Petitioners, Melissa and Aaron Kein, a married Christian couple and owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, a specialty cake shop in Oregon.
The case dates back to 2015, when the Kleins declined to design and create a cake that would celebrate a same-sex wedding, asserting their deeply and sincerely held religious belief that non-traditional marriages, such as same-sex marriages, violate God’s design for the institution of marriages.
Following the Kleins’ decision, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) was notified, and subsequently penalized the Kleins with a fine of $135,000.00 for violating the Oregon Revised Statute 659A.403, a public accommodation law prohibiting refusals of services that are otherwise offered to the public if the refusal is based on “race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status or age.” (The sincerity of the Kliens’ beliefs is not in dispute.)
“Americans’ constitutional rights must be upheld regardless if we agree or disagree with the circumstances in which they are exercised,” said Mary O’Neill, Executive Director of America’s Future. “We believe that the Kleins should not have been placed in a position that compels them to choose between practicing their religious beliefs faithfully or complying with state law. The SCOTUS should rule in their favor and uphold their rights, and we pray that they do just that.”
To read more details about this filing, along with several other briefs filed by America’s Future, please visit our Law & Policy page.
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