Masterpiece Cakeshop v Colorado Civil Rights Commission Oral Arguments took place at the Supreme Court last year and their decision is coming soon.

When did this Supreme Court case take shape and what started it down the path to where it is today in front of nine Justices’?  It began with a custom rainbow cake(make your own here) was made for the Colorado couple.  The couple then requested personalized messages be written on the cake and symbols included in the decoration.  The religious baker decided these messages went against his belief and refused to personalize the cake.  A case over a cake has made it to the Supreme Court and will soon be decided upon by the nine Justices.

Questions from the Supreme Court Justices seem to hinge around a few central themes

• When does a baker become an artist and his creation become protected by free speech?
• Would a baker be forced to create a racist cake after seeing one done for the Red Cross?
• Are tailors and hairdressers considered artist whose work would be protected by Free Speech?
• This seems to be taking the shape of a First Amendment issue as opposed to a Religous one.
• Either way, this argument should come down to one vote in a 5-4 decision.
• The Justices have been known to interrupt one another but this case seems to have the Justices anxious to get an answer to their specific question.

On the lighter side – Justice Sotomayor seems to like cupcakes?  JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR: “You know, the other night I had some people over and one of them brought a box of cupcakes and one of the cupcakes was smashed against the box. That was the only cupcake not eaten. Now, I suspect that one of the reasons is the others were so much more attractive whole. There is a creation in serving food, in creating any type of edible product. People — there are sandwich artists now. There are people who create beauty in what they make, but we still don’t call it expressive and entitled to First Amendment protection”.