Attorney General Ken Paxton today applauded the U.S. Supreme Court after it ruled in favor of a Colorado cake artist’s constitutionally-protected right to religious liberty. Leading a 20-state coalition, Attorney General Paxton filed an amicus brief with the high court last September in support of cake artist Jack Phillips’s First Amendment freedom to run his business consistent with his faith. By a 7-2 vote, the Supreme Court agreed with Attorney General Paxton.

“This is a landmark victory for our first liberties of religious freedom and freedom of speech,” Attorney General Paxton said. “The Supreme Court’s ruling affirms that the First Amendment contains robust protections for people who choose to operate their business consistent with their faith. Every American should have the freedom to choose what they will or won’t create without fear of being unjustly punished by the government.”

Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, was sued after he declined to create a cake for a same-sex marriage because of his deeply-held religious belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Phillips consistently turns down business that promotes messages that are incompatible with his faith, such as racism and atheism, but his refusal to design a cake for a same-sex wedding resulted in rulings against him by the Colorado Court of Appeals and that state’s Civil Rights Commission.

View the U.S. Supreme Court decision