Another baker’s religious freedom case could be heard by Supreme Court

When custom baker Cathy Miller met with a couple to discuss their wedding cake, she didn’t know she was facing more than eight years of litigation from the state of California.

“What Cathy is primarily interested in here is protecting her ability to serve God and serve her community and trying to make sure that no one else has to go through what she’s been through,” Vice President and Senior Counsel Daniel Blomberg at The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty told The Heartlander in an interview.

In 2017, the California Civil Rights Department sued Miller, owner of Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, California, after she declined to design a cake for a same-sex wedding, according to Becket’s press release.

“To make sure all her custom creations conformed to her religious beliefs, Cathy developed written design standards,” the press release reports. “For example, Tastries will not design custom bakery items that depict gory or pornographic images, celebrate drug use, or demean others. Cathy will also not design wedding cakes that celebrate ideals that violate the Christian sacrament of marriage.”

Lower courts ruled in Miller’s favor twice under First Amendment protections, but then a California appeals court overturned the decisions. Miller appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court Aug. 26 after the Supreme Court of California refused to hear her case.

“My love for Jesus Christ calls me to serve others with joy and compassion, and Tastries has been my way of answering that call for over a decade,” Miller said in Becket’s press release. “I’m asking the Court to end California’s harassment once and for all. All I want is to serve my neighbors as the Gospel of Jesus Christ calls me to without being forced to create messages that violate my beliefs.”

During this legal battle, the U.S. Supreme Court has protected religious freedom and freedom of expression under the First Amendment in three distinct cases.

“Lower courts aren’t listening. They’re not getting the message,” Blomberg told The Heartlander. “There’s a real problem here in protecting the freedom of speech and protecting the free exercise of religion.”

Apart from the legal stress, Miller has experienced immense suffering and harassment, Blomberg said. She received death threats and rape threats, according to Becket’s tribute video. Her car was broken into and her computer stolen. Her business endured angry messages and online degradation.

“It’s been an incredible burden. Now, when you talk to her, you see the tears going in her eyes,” Blomberg said. “She talks about this, and the burden has been on her family and on her husband and on her workers. They had employees leave because of the kinds of harassing, threatening and grotesque phone calls and emails they were getting.”

Miller opened Tastries in 2013 with the help of her husband, who saw her talent and love for baking and decorating.

“We realized this was a gift from our Lord,” Miller said. “This is God’s business. I manage it. So, of course, we want that to come across to all our customers.”

Miller said both taste and appearance are essential to her custom-designed baked goods. She wants her faith and devotion to the Lord to be evident to every customer, she said.

“When you walk (in), it is beautiful. It is a lovely little shop just covered in expressions of Cathy’s faith and beautiful artistic drawings,” Blomberg said. “There’s a little book nook in the corner where you can enjoy your homemade cookies and read children’s books that are awesome.”

Tastries is the only bakery in Bakersfield with design limitations as detailed in Miller’s standards of service. When she declined to design the same-sex wedding cake, she prayed for the right words and even recommended another designer who would complete the couple’s request, Miller said.

The couple reacted in outrage and, within an hour, Tastries received a barrage of angry phone calls, emails and social media attacks. For three months, Miller didn’t go anywhere except her home, church and business.

Americans should have freedom to practice their beliefs, Miller said, and all she wants is “to honor her Lord and Savior in her business.”

“She’s a remarkable person. She has remarkable faith,” Blomberg said. “While it’s been extraordinarily challenging, she’s also an extraordinary woman.”

The Supreme Court will likely decide to accept or decline the case by early 2026, Blomberg said.