FLORIST, 70, FACING 'RUIN' REJECTS STATE'S '30 PIECES OF SILVER'
Bob Unruh/WND
A Washington state florist facing “ruin” for her decision not to support same-sex “marriage” through her business has rejected out of hand an offer to settle a state claim of discrimination against her.
As WND reported this week, Benton County Superior Court Judge Alex Ekstrom authorized the state and the homosexual plaintiffs to pursue the business and personal assets of Barronelle Stutzman, including her home, in payment of damages and attorneys’ fees.
The Alliance Defending Freedom confirmed Ekstrom granted a summary judgment in the case against Stutzman, meaning it will not proceed to trial. A trial had been scheduled for March 23. But the ADF said it would be appealed.
Last month, Ekstrom ruled Stutzman was personally liable for the claims against her, placing her business assets, her home and personal savings at risk.
The judge ordered this week that the state and the homosexual plaintiffs, each of whom filed lawsuits, could collect damages and attorneys’ fees from Stutzman.
“The message of these rulings is unmistakable: The government will bring about your personal and professional ruin if you don’t help celebrate same-sex marriage,” ADF Senior Counsel Kristen Waggoner said at the time.
“The two men had no problem getting the flowers they wanted,” she said. “They received several offers for free flowers, and the marketplace gives them plenty of options. Laws that are supposed to prohibit discrimination might sound good, but the government has begun to use these laws to hurt people – to force them to conform and to silence and punish them if they don’t violate their religious beliefs on marriage.”
On Friday, in response to a settlement offer relayed through a news release from Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Stutzman was blunt.
She told Ferguson in a letter posted online: “Your offer reveals that you don’t really understand me or what this conflict is all about. It’s about freedom, not money. I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything else that your lawsuit threatens to take from my family, but my freedom to honor God in doing what I do best is more important.”
She continued: “Washington’s constitution guarantees us ‘freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment.’ I cannot sell that precious freedom. You are asking me to walk in the way of a well-known betrayer, one who sold something of infinite worth for 30 pieces of silver.
“That is something I will not do.”
Ferguson did not respond to a WND request for comment Friday.
In a news release Thursday, Ferguson said he would settle the state case against Stutzman for $2,001. That included $2,000 in penalties under the Consumer Protection Act plus $1 for costs and fees.
But he also demanded “an agreement not to discriminate in the future.”
“I pray that you reconsider your position,” Stutzman told Ferguson. “I kindly served [plaintiff Rob Ingersoll] for nearly a decade and would gladly continue to do so. I truly want the best for my friend. I’ve also employed and served many members of the LGBT community, and I will continue to do so regardless of what happens with this case.
“You chose to attack my faith and pursue this not simply as a matter of law, but to threaten my very means of working, eating and having a home. If you are serious about clarifying the law, then I urge you to drop your claims against my home, business and other assets and pursue the legal claims through the appeal process.”
She wrote: “Since 2012, same-sex couples all over the state have been free to act on their beliefs about marriage, but because I follow the Bible’s teaching that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, I am no longer free to act on my beliefs.”
ADF’s Waggoner said the “attorney general’s offer is this: pay penalties, be quiet, and give up your freedom.”
“So not much has really changed. He’s had nearly two years to end the threat to Barronelle’s freedom and livelihood. It is interesting that this ‘offer’ only materialized after his crusade to ruin this 70-year-old grandmother was exposed nationally,” Waggoner said.
Stutzman was sued by the state and Ingersoll after she declined to provide flowers for an event she believes is forbidden in the Bible. Ingersoll was referred to several other willing florists and actually was offered free flowers.
Stutzman said: “America would be a better place if citizens respected each others’ differences and the government still protected the freedom to have those differences. Instead, the government is coming after me and everything I have just because I won’t live my life the way the state says I should. I just want the freedom to live and work faithfully and according to what God says about marriage without fear of punishment. Others have the freedom to say or not say what they want to about marriage, and that’s all I’m asking for as well.”
Waggoner said a “government that tells you what you can’t say is bad enough, but a government that tells you what you must say is terrifying.”
“The lesson from the court’s decisions is that you put your home, your family business, and your life savings at risk by daring to defy a government mandate that forces you to promote views you believe are wrong.”
Stutzman operated under the name Arlene’s Flowers of Richland, Washington.
According to arguments in the case, Washington officials believe the state’s statutory protections for homosexuals trump the Constitution’s protection of religious liberty.
ADF had argued that the flower corporation was set up under a Washington law that protects personal assets except in cases of knowing fraud, deception or theft, none of which is alleged in the case.
See a report:
Article printed from WND: http://www.wnd.com
A Washington state florist facing “ruin” for her decision not to support same-sex “marriage” through her business has rejected out of hand an offer to settle a state claim of discrimination against her.
As WND reported this week, Benton County Superior Court Judge Alex Ekstrom authorized the state and the homosexual plaintiffs to pursue the business and personal assets of Barronelle Stutzman, including her home, in payment of damages and attorneys’ fees.
The Alliance Defending Freedom confirmed Ekstrom granted a summary judgment in the case against Stutzman, meaning it will not proceed to trial. A trial had been scheduled for March 23. But the ADF said it would be appealed.
Last month, Ekstrom ruled Stutzman was personally liable for the claims against her, placing her business assets, her home and personal savings at risk.
The judge ordered this week that the state and the homosexual plaintiffs, each of whom filed lawsuits, could collect damages and attorneys’ fees from Stutzman.
“The message of these rulings is unmistakable: The government will bring about your personal and professional ruin if you don’t help celebrate same-sex marriage,” ADF Senior Counsel Kristen Waggoner said at the time.
“The two men had no problem getting the flowers they wanted,” she said. “They received several offers for free flowers, and the marketplace gives them plenty of options. Laws that are supposed to prohibit discrimination might sound good, but the government has begun to use these laws to hurt people – to force them to conform and to silence and punish them if they don’t violate their religious beliefs on marriage.”
On Friday, in response to a settlement offer relayed through a news release from Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Stutzman was blunt.
She told Ferguson in a letter posted online: “Your offer reveals that you don’t really understand me or what this conflict is all about. It’s about freedom, not money. I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything else that your lawsuit threatens to take from my family, but my freedom to honor God in doing what I do best is more important.”
She continued: “Washington’s constitution guarantees us ‘freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment.’ I cannot sell that precious freedom. You are asking me to walk in the way of a well-known betrayer, one who sold something of infinite worth for 30 pieces of silver.
“That is something I will not do.”
Ferguson did not respond to a WND request for comment Friday.
In a news release Thursday, Ferguson said he would settle the state case against Stutzman for $2,001. That included $2,000 in penalties under the Consumer Protection Act plus $1 for costs and fees.
But he also demanded “an agreement not to discriminate in the future.”
“I pray that you reconsider your position,” Stutzman told Ferguson. “I kindly served [plaintiff Rob Ingersoll] for nearly a decade and would gladly continue to do so. I truly want the best for my friend. I’ve also employed and served many members of the LGBT community, and I will continue to do so regardless of what happens with this case.
“You chose to attack my faith and pursue this not simply as a matter of law, but to threaten my very means of working, eating and having a home. If you are serious about clarifying the law, then I urge you to drop your claims against my home, business and other assets and pursue the legal claims through the appeal process.”
She wrote: “Since 2012, same-sex couples all over the state have been free to act on their beliefs about marriage, but because I follow the Bible’s teaching that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, I am no longer free to act on my beliefs.”
ADF’s Waggoner said the “attorney general’s offer is this: pay penalties, be quiet, and give up your freedom.”
“So not much has really changed. He’s had nearly two years to end the threat to Barronelle’s freedom and livelihood. It is interesting that this ‘offer’ only materialized after his crusade to ruin this 70-year-old grandmother was exposed nationally,” Waggoner said.
Stutzman was sued by the state and Ingersoll after she declined to provide flowers for an event she believes is forbidden in the Bible. Ingersoll was referred to several other willing florists and actually was offered free flowers.
Stutzman said: “America would be a better place if citizens respected each others’ differences and the government still protected the freedom to have those differences. Instead, the government is coming after me and everything I have just because I won’t live my life the way the state says I should. I just want the freedom to live and work faithfully and according to what God says about marriage without fear of punishment. Others have the freedom to say or not say what they want to about marriage, and that’s all I’m asking for as well.”
Waggoner said a “government that tells you what you can’t say is bad enough, but a government that tells you what you must say is terrifying.”
“The lesson from the court’s decisions is that you put your home, your family business, and your life savings at risk by daring to defy a government mandate that forces you to promote views you believe are wrong.”
Stutzman operated under the name Arlene’s Flowers of Richland, Washington.
According to arguments in the case, Washington officials believe the state’s statutory protections for homosexuals trump the Constitution’s protection of religious liberty.
ADF had argued that the flower corporation was set up under a Washington law that protects personal assets except in cases of knowing fraud, deception or theft, none of which is alleged in the case.
See a report:
Article printed from WND: http://www.wnd.com
/
VIEW VIDEO - http://www.wnd.com/2015/02/florist-70-facing-ruin-rejects-states-30-pieces-of-silver/