Boom! Lawyered: Bakers and Bare Breasts Will Determine the Limits of Free Speech

In the latest episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani discuss protected speech, expressive conduct, going topless as protest speech, and whether or not you can refuse to bake a cake for a same-sex couple and call it "free speech."

In the latest episode of Boom! Lawyered, hosts Jessica Mason Pieklo and Imani Gandy discuss protected speech, expressive conduct, going topless as protest speech, and whether or not you can refuse to bake a cake for a same-sex couple and call it “free speech.” They also explain the convoluted process by which cases make it to the U.S. Supreme Court and read the latest listener reviews.

An edited excerpt:

Imani: If we follow the rights argument here, then could someone refuse to bake a cake for a baby shower for a gay couple? What about folks who perform music or cater the food or provide wedding flowers? Do they have free range to deny services to Jewish or Muslim couples because they are not Christian? I mean, look, some evangelicals still oppose interracial marriage so what happens to civil rights in general here? This is a huge issue that the Gorsuch Court is about to weigh in on.

It really is one of the most important cases of the term if you don’t think that folks should be able to use the First Amendment as a sword to cut civil rights protections back.

Jessica: I mean, the courts have rejected these claims in other states like Washington and New Mexico, and even the Supreme Court refused to take the New Mexico case. That one involved a florist making basically the same arguments as the baker in Masterpiece Cake Shop. So the fact that the Court took this case on now is curious to say the least.

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Transcript (PDF)