The oral arguments the Arizona Supreme Court heard today on a Phoenix anti-discrimination ordinance centered on what a message conveys.

The justices hammered the two sides of the Brush & Nib Studio v. City of Phoenix case with questions in front of a packed house of spectators including a downstairs room filled with more than one hundred more people.

On one side is Alliance Defending Freedom’s Jonathan Scruggs representing Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski of Brush & Nib Studio. On the other is Eric Fraser representing the city.

Attorney Jonathan Scruggs, who represents Brush & Nib owners Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, said if a male-female couple named Pat and Terry — Chief Justice Scott Bales’ hypothetical example — have a wedding invitation that is identical to a same-sex couple with the same names, the message conveyed is still different.

“It sends a celebratory message about that wedding,” Scruggs said about the example of a same-sex couple.

Duka and Koski are devout Christians who believe their work is inextricably related to their religious beliefs. They strongly believe a marriage is meant to be between a man and a woman, and argue they cannot separate their beliefs from their work.

Given their religious background, they would not endorse a message of matrimony between a same-sex couple even if every single detail on an invitation they create is identical to that of a heterosexual couple seeking marriage.

If the court affirms lower-court decisions, the studio owners would be facing $2,500 in fines for each day in violation of the law plus up to six months in jail. They would be the first people to be incarcerated in this type of case. All the others faced civil penalties. Read more via AZ Capitol Times