The Supreme Court is taking on a new clash between gay rights and religion in a case about a wedding cake for a same-sex couple in Colorado, reports the Associated Press. The justices said Monday they will consider whether a baker who objects to same-sex marriage on religious grounds can refuse to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. In another decision published Monday, the justices declined to review a California law restricting concealed carry permits. In that case, Peruta v. California, gun rights activists argued that a “good cause” requirement on concealed carry permits is too restrictive.
The cake case asks the high court to balance the religious rights of the baker against the couple’s right to equal treatment under the law. Similar disputes have popped up across the U.S. The decision to take on the case reflects renewed energy among the court’s conservative justices, whose ranks have recently been bolstered by the addition of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the high court. The court will review a Colorado court decision that found baker Jack Phillips and his Masterpiece Cakeshop of suburban Denver had discriminated against the gay couple under Colorado law. Phillips told the Supreme Court he has free speech and religious rights under the First Amendment that should protect him.