Oregon bakery continues to fight bias ruling that shut it down

Aaron and Melissa Klein once operated Sweet Cakes by Melissa, a bakery in Oregon.

Three years ago, they declined to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple based on the tenets of their Christian faith. The couple complained, and the ensuing discrimination claims forced the Kleins out of business. The state of Oregon ultimately fined the couple $135,000.

The Kleins are now appealing the administrative ruling with the help of attorney Jeremy Dys of First Liberty. I spoke with the Kleins and their lawyer about the toll the case has taken and what comes next.

This process—the complaint, the ruling, the fine—has been going on for some time now. What’s surprised you the most about this entire process?

Aaron Klein: To me, the most surprising thing was to start out in a country you believed had religious freedom and then to see how much it has eroded over the years without anybody knowing. We went through an administrative law setting that we didn’t know existed … at least, not to the extent that it was. To watch everything kind of crumble around you because of standing next to your beliefs is very shocking.

Melissa, what struck you in particular about this very long and difficult process?

Melissa Klein: Feeling like they’re not recognizing our First Amendment rights, that’s been a little shocking. I feel like this is supposed to be America. It also was shocking to get hit with a $135,000 penalty. That was extremely shocking to get hit with that over politely declining to be part of an event.

Part of that money was to make up for the emotional distress the state says you inflicted on the lesbian couple. But how are you holding up emotionally?

MK: It’s definitely been emotionally really hard. For me personally, I feel like we worked so hard to build up our business and get it to where it was. It was a very successful business. We lived comfortable and we brought our kids to the shop with us, and it was like a second home to our family. We spent most of the day there. Our kids really miss it, and I miss it so much. I miss all my customers and just the atmosphere and doing cakes and putting smiles on people’s faces.

What do you wish people knew about what’s happened to you that they might not learn from media reports?

AK: I don’t think there’s any Christian out there that does something to intentionally upset somebody. This is not something we would ever do. We hoped that everybody came into our shop and walked out with a smile on their face, a very satisfied customer. And to have to tell somebody “no” is not something you wanted to do and not something you’d ever want to have to go through, let alone to go through what we went through for simply saying we couldn’t be part of that. And we’re really hoping people can get from this that there is a point that we can all disagree, we can get along just the same, and we don’t need to have the government step in in the way in which they have.

Jeremy Dys, it seems as though the law and our culture is working against the Kleins here. What’s your response to that idea?

Jeremy Dys: The law is still the Constitution and the First Amendment still does protect religious liberty, and it’s up to us at First Liberty right now in this case (and if need be we’ll go to the Supreme Court to get this clarified). What this will determine is whether or not we’re going to be able to maintain the centuries-old tradition of accommodating and tolerating religious beliefs in this country. Let’s not forget that there are literally thousands of laws throughout the country that protect and accommodate a person’s religious beliefs. Be that for the Green family and Hobby Lobby to be able to conduct their business without being forced by the government to provide abortion-inducing medications, or whether that’s for a nurse that doesn’t want to be participating in a procedure of some sort that violates her convictions, or even people who want to opt out of the military under conscientious objector status. We have a long history in this country of accommodating people’s religious beliefs and letting them maintain their conscience before their god and that’s what we call religious liberty. That’s why this case is so important, and that’s also why the actions of Oregon are so dangerous. If we now have a government that says, you must agree with what we believe in order to be a good citizen or we punish you, that’s not freedom and it’s certainly not religious liberty.

Going forward, how will your legal strategy differ from the past?

JD: It’s going to be one of the first times that Aaron and Melissa will have the opportunity to have their day in court. Thus far, it’s been an administrative procedure, really just one guy who’s been reviewing these materials and making the decisions. Now they get to advance their side of story at the appellate level. There is very good law on this case and we’re very confident about our prospects going forward. … They have a gag order placed where they can’t talk about a variety of things related to this case or they’re going to receive more penalties from the government. And then even due process concerns come in. When the state of Oregon imposed this $130,000 penalty, they just went right into their bank account and swiped it out. … Now it’s our job to restore all those constitutional rights for them and to get that money back.

Listen to Mary Reichard’s complete conversation with Aaron and Melissa Klein and Jeremy Dys on The World and Everything in It.