Yakima, Wash., Jul 14, 2017 / 15:32 pm
Flower shop owner Barronelle Stutzman is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to protect her from a Washington state court ruling that could destroy her financially because her religious beliefs prevented her from serving a same-sex wedding ceremony.
"If the government can ruin Barronelle for peacefully living and working according to her faith, it can punish anyone else for expressing their belief," said Stutzman's attorney Kristen Waggoner, a senior counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom legal group.
"The government shouldn't have the power to force a 72-year-old grandmother to surrender her freedom in order to run her family business. Anyone who supports the First Amendment rights that the U.S. Constitution guarantees to all of us should stand with Barronelle."
"Our nation has a long history of protecting the right to dissent, but simply because Barronelle disagrees with the state about marriage, the government and ACLU have put at risk everything she owns," Waggoner charged.