Texas Asst AG, Jeff Mateer says that San Antonio has violated the First Amendment speech of Chick-fil-A. They did so by banning the restaurant from opening at the San Antonio Airport. The ban was a punishment for consistently holding Christian views.
Extracting penalties against Christian businesses not only violate Texas state law but federal law as well. Two of the council people said at the time of the vote they were banning CFA over the owners deeply held religious views.
Mateer cited the Hobby Lobby and Masterpiece Cake decisions of the Supreme Court as evidence of illegal activity.
Mateer said, “What the evidence shows, right now, is that the city council in San Antonio excluded Chick-fil-A from a concession contract at its airport even though the city staff recommended to approve this contract.”
Mateer added, “Two of the city council members expressly stated that the reason they wanted Chick-fil-A out of the contract was because of the owners’ religious beliefs. We believe — following strong Supreme Court precedent, the Hobby Lobby case, and this past term’s Masterpiece Cakeshop case — that violates the religious beliefs, the First Amendment rights of Chick-fil-A.”
Mateer continued, “When the city of San Antonio, through its city council, acted, that they’re showing religious animosity toward Chick-fil-A and its founders, and the First Amendment prohibits that.”
On March 28, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced plans to investigate whether San Antonio’s city council violated the First Amendment in its banning of Chick-fil-A from participating as a vendor at the city’s airport because of the chain’s support for Christian values.