The Daily Signal has exclusively learned that the government agency responsible for enforcing Oregon’s anti-discrimination law appears to be working closely with a powerful gay rights advocacy group in its case against Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa.
Communications obtained through a public records request show employees of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries—which pursued the case against the Kleins—participating in phone calls, texting, and attending meetings with Basic Rights Oregon, the largest LGBT advocacy group in the state.
[. . .]
“That’s a clear conflict of interest,” Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal.
State agencies have a duty to represent the best interests of the general public, not the interests of one particular advocacy group. The relationship shown by these communications is inappropriate and raises basic questions about the objectivity, bias, and fairness of this agency and its proceedings.
It is unclear what occurred during these meetings and phone calls, but the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries commissioner, who is in charge of determining the Kleins’ final punishment, met with Basic Rights Oregon on multiple occasions and purchased tickets costing hundreds of dollars benefiting the advocacy group.
[. . .]
based on The Daily Signal’s findings, lawyers for the Kleins on Friday requested the case be re-opened for further investigation.
[. . .]
on Spakovsky, who is a critic of the administrative law process, says the relationship between Avakian and an activist group would be an obvious ethics violation in a normal court system.
“The problem with administrative law judges appointed by a government agency is that they have an inherent conflict of interest—the agency is acting as judge, prosecutor, jury, and executioner, which is a basic violation of fundamental due process protections,” he said.
The whole point of having an independent judiciary is to separate the judicial and prosecutorial functions and avoid this type of conflict.
[. . .]
Suspicious of potential collusion, Harmon, the Kleins’ lawyer, requested the judge allow her to further investigate the state’s relationship with Basic Rights Oregon.
“We argued that because of Aaron Cryer’s testimony, the judge should allow us to re-depose the complainants and even people at BOLI [Bureau of Labor and Industries] to figure out exactly what happened and if there was any collusion,” Harmon told The Daily Signal.
On March 17, 2015, the judge denied that request.
[. . .]
In some ways, the information The Daily Signal obtained is nothing new.
“We knew from Facebook and other public records that the bureau’s commissioner—the final decision maker in this case—is a big supporter of Basic Rights Oregon and that [the Bureau of Labor and Industries] and Basic Rights Oregon are in regular communication about different issues within the commissioner’s control,” Harmon said.
That knowledge dates back to February 2013, when Avakian publicly accused Aaron and Melissa Klein of breaking the law before hearing any evidence
http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/01/emails-raise-questions-of-bias-in-case-against-bakers-who-denied-service-for-same-sex-wedding/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social
Emails Raise Questions of Bias in Case Against Bakers Who Denied Service for Same-Sex Wedding
Kelsey Harkness / @kelseyjharkness
June 01, 2015
Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham, Ore., speak exclusively with The Daily Signal about the fallout of their decision to decline baking a cake for a same-sex wedding.
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