FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
June 4, 2018
For More Information, contact:
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Steve Marshall
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Page 1 of 1
Alabama Attorney General
ALABAMA ATTORNEY GENERAL STEVE MARSHALL HAILS U.S. SUPREME
COURT DECISION AFFIRMING RELIGIOUS LIBERTY OF BUSINESS OWNER
Victory for Alabama and Coalition of States Supporting First Amendment Rights of Business Owner
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Steve Marshall hailed the U.S. Supreme Court’s
decision Monday in favor of a Colorado business owner who declined to prepare a cake
for a same-sex wedding based upon his religious beliefs. Alabama was one of 20 states
that filed an amicus brief in September in support of the First Amendment rights of the
business owner.
“This Supreme Court decision should send a strong message to activist courts and
bureaucrats alike that Americans’ right to religious expression cannot be trampled and
the Constitution cannot be ignored,” said Attorney General Steve Marshall.
“The Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop v Colorado Civil Rights
Commission is major a victory for the First Amendment right of religious expression in
America,” Attorney General Marshall added. “The State of Colorado determined that
baker Jack Phillips violated state law by declining to bake a wedding cake for a gay
marriage. The Supreme Court held that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission violated
Mr. Phillips’ First Amendment rights by acting with a ‘clear and impermissible hostility’
toward Mr. Phillips’ ‘sincere religious beliefs’ that marriage is ‘the union of one man and
one woman.'”
“Justice Gorsuch said it best in his concurrence: ‘In this country, the place of secular
officials isn’t to sit in judgment of religious beliefs, but only to protect their free
exercise.'”
The September 7, 2017, multi-state amicus brief was filed by the attorneys general of
Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana,
Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee,
Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin, and Governor LePage of Maine.
To view the Supreme Court ruling, click here: https://bit.ly/2JfUZPt
To view the amicus brief, click here: http://bit.ly/2gOyZSa
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501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.state.al.us
