classics digests, reflections and reviews
Four years after Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, there is another case (again originated in Colorado) pending before the Supreme Court of the United States, which seems to pit First Amendment rights against rights of people with protected traits, 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis. Like Masterpiece Cakeshop, the petitioner, a web designer, argues that her First Amendment right is violated when she is required by law to […]
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Preface To paraphrase Plato, the price we pay for indifference to reason is to be ruled by unreasonable people. On a personal level, I seek to understand the laws that affect or govern my life. If I cannot understand the laws, but am forced to abide by them, I’m no different from a slave; On a societal level, true democracy depends on reason. A democratic society is healthy only so […]
Read moreWhose Conscience is It? Most people who object to the SCOTUS ruling in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, including some of the Justices, argue either that the baker used his freedom of conscience as a cloak for bigotry, or that he conscience was misguided and irrational. Justice Neil Gorsuch responded to these arguments in his concurring opinion joined by Justice Samuel Alito[1]. As a side note, this is my first encounter […]
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