On December 5, 2017, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, a case examining how to balance free speech and freedom of religion claims against claims of discrimination.

The question at stake is whether the government can compel a bakery owner to act in ways—in this case, creating a wedding cake for a gay couple—that violates his religious beliefs about marriage.

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Vanita Gupta is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. The Leadership Conference joined an amicus brief in this case with other civil rights groups (NAACP, Southern Poverty Law Center), siding with the Civil Rights Division.



Michael Moreland is University Professor of Law and Religion and Director of the Eleanor H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy at Villanova Law School. He joined an amicus brief along with 34 other legal scholars supporting the cake shop owner.



Jeffrey Rosen is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Constitution Center, the only institution in America chartered by Congress “to disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a nonpartisan basis.” He is also a professor at The George Washington University Law School, and a contributing editor for The Atlantic.

Related Decisions and Briefs

Additional Resources

Our Interactive Constitution is the leading digital resource about the debates and text behind the greatest vision of human freedom in history, the U.S. Constitution. Here, scholars from across the legal and philosophical spectrum interact with each other to explore the meaning of each provision of our founding document.

Common Interpretation

Freedom of Speech and the Press by Geoffrey R. Stone and Eugene Volokh

Matters of Debate

Fixing Free Speech by Geoffrey R. Stone

Frontiers for Free Speech by Eugene Volokh

Common Interpretation

The Free Exercise Clause by Frederick Gedicks and Michael McConnell



Matters of Debate

Religious Liberty Is Equal Liberty by Frederick Gedicks

Free Exercise: A Vital Protection for Diversity and Freedom by Michael McConnell

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