Colorados Supreme Court has dismissed on procedural grounds a lawsuit against a Christian baker who refused to bake a cake for a transgender woman but declined to weigh in on the free speech issues that brought the case national attention.Baker Jack Phillips was sued by attorney Autumn Scardina in 2017 after his Denver bakery refused to make a pink cake with blue frosting to celebrate her gender transition.At issue was a required hearing in the case that was not granted to Scardina. The state Supreme Court determined that denial should have been taken up with an appeals court instead of a district court.The Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) has specific language on when an action can be filed in district court.None of the circumstances that permit an action in the district court occurred here, Tuesdays ruling reads. We therefore vacate both the divisions and the district courts orders and dismiss this case. In so doing, we express no opinion about the merits of Scardinas claims, and nothing about todays holding alters the protections afforded by CADA.Phillips scored a partial victory in a previous case before the U.S. Supreme Court after refusing to bake a cake for a gay couples wedding.Attorneys representing Scandina expressed disappointment following Tuesday's ruling."We are very disappointed that the Colorado Supreme Court decided to avoid the merits of this issue by inventing an argument no party raised," a statement from the Fennemore law firm read in part. "It is a fundamental principle of our legal system that courts decide issues based on the arguments presented by the parties. For the Court to abandon that principle today does a disservice not just to Ms. Scardina, but to the entire state."Attorneys who have represented Phillips in both cases, on the other hand, celebrated the dismissal of the case.Enough is enough. Jack has been dragged through courts for over a decade. Its time to leave him alone, said Jake Warner, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom. Free speech is for everyone. As the U.S. Supreme Court held in 303 Creative, the government cannot force artists to express messages they dont believe. In this case, an attorney demanded that Jack create a custom cake that would celebrate and symbolize a transition from male to female. Because that cake admittedly expresses a message, and because Jack cannot express that message for anyone, the government cannot punish Jack for declining to express it. The First Amendment protects that decision.Read the full Colorado Supreme Court ruling below: