Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries responded with a lengthy and wide-ranging attack on the couple, ordering them to pay the $135,000 penalty and not to say “certain things about their religious faith.” Officials overseeing the case even stated publicly that people with such beliefs need to be “rehabilitated,” according to court records.
Brad Avakian was head of BOLI when this went down; he's now running for Secretary of State and harbors ambitious plans for attempting to do a number of things that don't fall under the purview of the SoS. In other words, exactly what he did as head of BOLI, only more so. Now, the Kleins are kicking things up a notch:
Now they have appealed to the Oregon Court of Appeals, arguing the state violated their constitutional rights to religious freedom, free speech and due process.
Avakian, for example, before hearing the case against the Kleins, “made numerous public comments on social media and in media interviews revealing his intent to rule against them,” according to the brief.
“He stated that the Kleins had ‘disobey[ed]’ Oregon law and needed to be ‘rehabilitate[d].’ By failing to recuse himself from the case, while harboring a bias against the Kleins, Commissioner Avakian deprived the Kleins of their right to due process with a fair hearing before an impartial tribunal.”
The brief also contends the $135,000 penalty was gratuitous and excessive and that the agency order violates Oregon law, the state constitution and the U.S. Constitution. The complaint asserts the state agency violated constitutional prohibitions against compelled speech, free speech, due process and limits on the exercise of their religion.
Yeah, Brad kind of messed up by running around to media and making comments like "they need to be rehabilitated". That alone shows just how unhinged the guy is; a baker and her husband need to be "rehabilitated" because a state official disagrees with their religious views. It's one thing to note that your views are at odds with their beliefs, but it's way out there to start talking about forcing them into some sort of rehab because you disagree with them.