Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to lower court ruling that found that the owner of a Hawaii bed and breakfast violated a state anti-discrimination law by turning away a lesbian couple, citing Christian beliefs.
Eric Risberg / AP fileThe U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to a lower court ruling that found that the owner of a Hawaii bed and breakfast violated a state anti-discrimination law by turning away a lesbian couple, citing Christian beliefs.
The justices refused to hear an appeal by Phyllis Young, who runs the three-room Aloha Bed & Breakfast in Honolulu, of the ruling that she ran afoul of Hawaii’s public accommodation law by refusing to rent a room to Diane Cervilli and Taeko Bufford in 2007. Litigation will now continue that will determine what penalty Young might face.
That decision did not resolve the question of whether business owners can claim religious exemptions from anti-discrimination laws. Young said her decision to turn away the same-sex couple was protected by her right to free exercise of her religious beliefs under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.
The conservative-majority court could yet weigh in soon on both issues as it has a separate appeal pending involving a different bakery in Oregon that refused to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
2020 Candidates float plans to change Supreme CourtAre changes to the Supreme Court on the horizon? chucktodd looks at some of the ideas that 2020 presidential candidates have been considering.
Read more »
U.S. high court rebuffs Hawaii B&B that turned away lesbian coupleThe U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a new dispute involving gay...
Read more »
Supreme Court to consider sentence for D.C.-area sniperSupreme Court to consider new sentence for Lee Boyd Malvo who was sentenced to life in prison for his role in a series of shootings that killed 10 people in the Washington, DC, area in 2002.
Read more »
Supreme Court will take up immigration-related case next termThe Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear a case next term concerning Kansas' prosecution of three undocumented immigrants for using stolen Social Security numbers in an effort to gain employment.
Read more »
Supreme Court agrees to hear deadly DC sniper shootings caseWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider Virginia's plea to reinstate the life-without-parole sentence of a man who as a teenager participated in sniper shootings that...
Read more »
Supreme Court to consider whether Beltway sniper Lee Boyd Malvo deserves new sentencingBetween Sept. 5 and Oct. 22, 2002, John Allen Muhammad and Malvo killed 10 people and wounded others in sniper attacks in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Read more »
2020 Dems warm to expanding Supreme CourtA series of White House hopefuls are expressing new interest in remaking the courts — payback for Republican aggression during the Obama presidency.
Read more »
Supreme Court expands scope of census citizenship question caseSupreme Court announced it's expanding the scope of the case against the Trump admin.'s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, agreeing to decide whether the move violated the Constitution.
Read more »
Analysis | The Democrats’ premature fantasies about packing the Supreme Court and nixing the filibusterThe ideas might have merit, but proposing them while you're out of power is a highly questionable strategy.
Read more »
Mothers’ 26-year quest for justice takes them to state Supreme CourtMilena (Sellers) Phillips and Maria Keever sat in the chambers of the California Supreme Court in San Francisco listening to a lawyer argue why the sexual predator who murdered their boys should have his death penalty sentence overturned.
Read more »