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Melissa Elaine Klein, et vir v. Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries

Paid petition · Court of Appeals of Oregon, No. A159899 · judgment December 28, 2017

GVR'd · June 17, 2019
Pre-decision estimate: 0% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

Melissa and Aaron Klein owned a bakery, which they operated in accord with their religious convictions. They designed and created custom cakes—only custom cakes. And they did so without regard to the sexual orientation of their customers, including the complainants in this case, who had commissioned a wedding cake from the Kleins for a traditional wedding just two years before setting this litigation in motion. What the Kleins could not do in good conscience was to design and create a custom wedding cake to celebrate a wedding ceremony that contravened their religious belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. When the Kleins declined to contribute their art to a same-sex wedding ritual, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (“BOLI”) found that they had violated Oregon’s public accommodations law. BOLI ordered the Kleins to pay the complainants $135,000 in damages. Sweetcakes by Melissa went out of business. The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed BOLI’s order, rejecting the Kleins’ constitutional defenses. The Oregon Supreme Court denied review. The questions presented are:

  1. Whether Oregon violated the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment by compelling the Kleins to design and create a custom wedding cake to celebrate a same-sex wedding ritual, in violation of their sincerely held religious beliefs.

  2. Whether the Court should overrule Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990).

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Adam Rabun Fast Gustafson
Boyden Gray & Associates PLLC

For respondent
Benjamin Noah Gutman
Oregon Department of Justice

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 13 conferences

Amicus briefs
10 cert-stage

Linked docket
18A246

Proceedings

  1. Jul 19 2019
    JUDGMENT ISSUED.
  2. Jul 19 2019
    MANDATE ISSUED.
  3. Jun 17 2019
    Petition GRANTED. Judgment VACATED and case REMANDED for further consideration in light of Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Comm'n, 584 U. S. ____ (2018).
  4. Jun 10 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/13/2019.
  5. Jun 03 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/6/2019.
  6. May 28 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/30/2019.
  7. May 20 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/23/2019.
  8. May 13 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/16/2019.
  9. May 06 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/9/2019.
  10. Apr 22 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/26/2019.
  11. Apr 15 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/18/2019.
  12. Apr 08 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/12/2019.
  13. Mar 25 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/29/2019.
  14. Mar 21 2019
    Rescheduled.
  15. Mar 18 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/22/2019.
  16. Mar 14 2019
    Rescheduled.
  17. Mar 11 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/15/2019.
  18. Feb 28 2019
    Rescheduled.
  19. Feb 13 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/1/2019.
  20. Feb 11 2019
    Reply of petitioners Melissa Elaine Klein, et vir filed. (Distributed)
  21. Jan 25 2019
    Brief of respondent Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries in opposition filed.
  22. Dec 20 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including January 25, 2019.
  23. Dec 14 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from December 26, 2018 to January 25, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
  24. Nov 26 2018
    Brief amicus curiae of Foundation for Moral Law filed.
  25. Nov 26 2018
    Brief amicus curiae of Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence filed.
  26. Nov 26 2018
    Brief amicus curiae of Thomas More Society filed.
  27. Nov 26 2018
    Brief amici curiae of The States of Texas, et al. filed.
  28. Nov 26 2018
    Brief amici curiae of The Cato Institute, et al. filed.
  29. Nov 26 2018
    Brief amici curiae of Public Advocate of the United States, et al. filed.
  30. Nov 26 2018
    Brief amici curiae of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, et. al filed.
  31. Nov 21 2018
    Brief amicus curiae of Pacific Legal Foundation filed.
  32. Nov 21 2018
    Brief amicus curiae of Southeastern Legal Foundation filed.
  33. Nov 16 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including December 26, 2018.
  34. Nov 15 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from November 26, 2018 to December 26, 2018, submitted to The Clerk.
  35. Nov 14 2018
    Brief amicus curiae of Institute for Faith and Family filed.
  36. Nov 08 2018
    Blanket Consent filed by Petitioners, Melissa Elaine Klein, et vir.
  37. Oct 31 2018
    Blanket Consent filed by Respondent, Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries.
  38. Oct 19 2018
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 26, 2018)
  39. Sep 12 2018
    Application (18A246) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until October 19, 2018.
  40. Sep 06 2018
    Application (18A246) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from September 19, 2018 to October 19, 2018, submitted to The Chief Justice.
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