In what many have dubbed “Masterpiece Cakeshop 2.0,” the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday in a pivotal case regarding freedom of expression. The Arizona high court found that a Phoenix law violated the free speech rights of religious business owners Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, owners of Brush & Nib Studio, a small business which designs and creates custom wedding invitations.

Duka and Koski use their art to create designs for anyone, they just don’t create certain messages that violate their religious beliefs. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that a stringent Phoenix law, the “Human Relations Ordinance,” violated their free speech protections under the state constitution and their free exercise rights under Arizona’s Free Exercise of Religion Act. The law demanded artists such as Duka and Kosi express messages that conflict with their core beliefs if asked — and they faced fines or even jail time if they declined.

The court held that the Phoenix law, which coerced artists to create messages with which they fundamentally disagreed, would violate the fundamental principle that “an individual has autonomy over his or her speech and thus may not be forced to speak a message he or she does not wish to say.” The court was clear this only applied to the “creation of custom wedding invitations” and they “do not recognize a blanket exemption from [anti-discrimination law]” for all the work the business does.

“The government shouldn’t threaten artists with jail time and fines to force them to create custom artwork, such as wedding invitations, expressing messages that violate their beliefs, and that’s what the court has affirmed today,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Jonathan Scruggs, who argued on behalf of Duka and Koski before the Arizona Supreme Court.

The court’s decision in Brush & Nib Studio v. City of Phoenix was quite powerful, considering this was a preenforcement challenge, in a sense. The artistic team had not actually received requests to celebrate same-sex weddings.

“The rights of free speech and free exercise, so precious to this nation since its founding, are not limited to soft murmurings behind the doors of a person’s home or church, or private conversations with like-minded friends and family,” the court wrote.

This is a preemptive strike: The Arizona Supreme Court's ruling maintains the protection of free speech and artistic expression, staving off future scenarios where business owners get neck deep in years worth of litigation just for living by their beliefs.

Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.