World – Lawsuits on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court tested the First Amendment’s application of free speech and religious liberty in 2018, and the cases arrived at a court whose ideological bent has shifted since they were filed.
The court agreed to hear one case, but the year closes leaving Christian plaintiffs where they began—looking to the New Year for relief. Religious liberty and free speech proponents began the year awaiting vindication from the U.S. Supreme Court in the Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case, but none was forthcoming.
The June ruling provided short-lived relief for baker Jack Phillips only.
