Kleins

State of Oregon Makes Bakers Pay $135,000 for Operating Bakery According to their Faith

First Liberty Institute is representing Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of “Sweet Cakes by Melissa,” in a battle for the Oregon couple’s religious freedom. In 2013, two women asked the Kleins to make a cake celebrating their same-sex wedding. As devout Christians, the Kleins felt that helping celebrate the wedding would violate their faith, so they declined to make the cake—only to have the State of Oregon punish them with a $135,000 penalty and issue a gag order against them. The Kleins were forced to shut down their business. They are appealing the ruling to the Oregon Court of Appeals. First Liberty Institute and Boyden Gray (former White House Counsel for President George H.W. Bush) are serving as their appellate counsel. Oral arguments are expected later this year.

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Meet Aaron and Melissa Klein

Aaron, Melissa and their five children live in Northwestern Oregon. In 2007, they fulfilled their dream of opening a family bakery, called “Sweet Cakes by Melissa.”

“When we opened the shop we thought it would be a great way to provide for our children,” Aaron said.

For Melissa, the bakery was an opportunity to express her creativity. “When I bake a cake, it becomes my canvas,” she said. “I love getting to pour myself into cakes to create something unique and special for every customer who comes to us. ”

Melissa dreamed that her children would be able to take over the shop one day—but that dream was shattered only a few years later.

A Request for a Wedding Cake

In January 2013, a woman came to the bakery and requested a wedding cake for her same-sex wedding. The woman was a return customer, who had come to the bakery with her partner months earlier to order a cake for another event. The women had such a positive experience at Sweet Cakes that they wanted Melissa to make their wedding cake.

Melissa and Aaron are devout Christians who are committed to following the teachings of their faith. Melissa says, “My faith teaches that God designed marriage to be between a man and a woman. For me to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding would go completely against what I believe.”

The Kleins explained to the women that by making a wedding cake, they would be endorsing something that violated their beliefs, which is something they could not do.

“I love these women and I had happily served them in the past,” Melissa continued. “I am still happy to serve them anytime, for any other event. I just couldn’t be a part of their wedding.”

Punished for Christian Beliefs

The State of Oregon came after the Kleins personally, ordering Aaron and Melissa to pay the women $135,000, and wiping out their personal bank accounts.

Additionally, the State of Oregon issued a gag order against the Kleins, ordering them to “cease and desist” from saying that they will not participate in a same-sex wedding or otherwise talk about their desire to run their business according to their faith.

In the meantime, the Kleins were bombarded with hate mail, harassment, and threats. Business declined, and in September 2013, Sweet Cakes was forced to close its doors. As a result, in order to provide for his family, Aaron went to work as a garbage collector to make ends meet.

“For us to lose the bakery was really crushing,” said Melissa. “We worked so hard to build it up. We poured our heart into it. It was my passion. To have it taken away like that was really devastating.”

First Liberty Institute Legal Action

First Liberty Institute, along with Ambassador Boyden Gray (former White House Counsel for President George H.W. Bush, U.S. ambassador to the European Union, and law clerk to Chief Justice Earl Warren), is appealing the Kleins’ case to the Oregon Court of Appeals. In the appeal, they will argue that the State of Oregon is violating Melissa and Aaron’s constitutional rights to free speech, free expression, and religious liberty.

“The government should not force people to violate their conscience or their faith,” said Kelly Shackelford, President and CEO of First Liberty Institute. “One of the great things about America is that we are a tolerant society that protects diversity of thought. We should all be willing to peacefully coexist with different opinions.”