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The first paragraph, Public Accomodation, is word for word, existing law.
But there are exceptions to that law. That's my point. Not all businesses have to abide by that law.
The Public Accommodation law is PART OF the Americans With Disabilities set of laws, which do NOT apply to all businesses.
From the law itself:
Title III prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in the activities of places of public accommodations (businesses that are generally open to the public and that fall into one of 12 categories listed in the ADA, such as restaurants, movie theaters, schools, day care facilities, recreation facilities, and doctors' offices) and requires newly constructed or altered places of public accommodation—as well as commercial facilities (privately owned, nonresidential facilities such as factories, warehouses, or office buildings)—to comply with the ADA Standards. Public Accommodations and Commercial Facilities (Title III)
All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, and privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined by civil rights laws, without discrimination or segregation.
Period.
Whether racists, sexists, homophobes, etc., like it or not.
what a shame you don't understand a private business. in your utopia, government holds a gun to your head while you serve whoever they please. you're taken seriously.
you can refuse service to whomever you want. unfortunately, homos also have the right to dress up in pink tutus and prance around in front of your store with signs about "equality."
I kinow of few that apply to stuff run from one's home, as that does not break the plane requiring public accomodation. Realistically, those corps are glorified kid's lemonaid stands, unless they reach the size requiring their own location.
ADA, which is the law that encompasses the Public Accommodation law you are addressing, applies to companies with 15 or more employees.
Hate it, and it goes back several decades-it is not strictly this admin. Congress is exempt from EEOC laws, and almost all vital employment laws. I'd like an all encompassing bill requiring an unwinnable majority 90-10, to make any law not null and void if Congress exempts itself. EVER.
Thanks. I have to admit, that's not the answer I expected.
Generally I think that this whole issue is one for which there is no perfect answer. As Bent Bow and Happy Texan both pointed out, being forced to provide a service against your will amounts to slavery, and that is against the law (the 13th Amendment). OTOH I do not want a return to 'whites only' lunch counter. To me, that is abhorrent on its face.
So I think this is an issue where a pragmatic middle must be found. It's not unlike the gun control issue, where on one extreme people could say that there is an individual right to own a nuke, and on the other extreme people could argue for the banning of pocket knives, since they can be used to kill. We have drawn a pragmatic line wherein everything up to fully auto and .50 caliber is legal, but no more.
Thanks. I have to admit, that's not the answer I expected.
Generally I think that this whole issue is one for which there is no perfect answer. As Bent Bow and Happy Texan both pointed out, being forced to provide a service against your will amounts to slavery, and that is against the law (the 13th Amendment). OTOH I do not want a return to 'whites only' lunch counter. To me, that is abhorrent on its face.
So I think this is an issue where a pragmatic middle must be found. It's not unlike the gun control issue, where on one extreme people could say that there is an individual right to own a nuke, and on the other extreme people could argue for the banning of pocket knives, since they can be used to kill. We have drawn a pragmatic line wherein everything up to fully auto and .50 caliber is legal, but no more.
I agree that we need to find a balance in our laws and in our society.
Bidding high really high(5X what I would normally do it for), usually runs off the unwanted clients/customers, in my business.
Every now and then I get a bite and it pays to put up with the extra BS, that I expected and get.
If you are a business owner, do you have the right to decide what segment of your market you will serve? Should you be forced to accept any and all work? Must you accept all who may contact you that have a need for your particular service? Or, do you have a right of refusal?
I spent many years as a self employed ceramic tile contractor. Over those years, there were times we would visit a client, but decide to decline to offer a quote (for various reasons, but sometimes simply because we had a bad feeling about the client; i.e., we didn't like them). I always believed it was my right to decline or accept work.
As a freelance Web site designer, would I be forced to create a Web site for anyone, regardless of the content of that site?
If you look at it in abstract how can you not have the right to refuse?
A business entity trades goods, services or compensation, for goods, services or compensation.
If business A trading goods and services to business B could not refuse to trade with Business B the neither could business B refuse to trade with business A (this is fundamental equal protection).
If we look at consumers, ultimately (in the abstract) the consumer is a business entity however in general they are trading only compensation for goods and services.
Thus if you cannot refuse to trade with another corporation (or person), then similarly another corp (or person) cannot refuse to accept your services, if such a situation existed, then a business would be able to justify prosecuting a consumer for refusing to accept their goods and/or services.
Since this is clearly not the case, then business does have the right to refuse "work". To not have this right would introduce all kinds of interesting legal actions, such as me suing you for lost trade because you did not take advantage of any goods or services my business provides, even though the goods and/or services I provide are of no interest to you.
You seem to have missed the two posts that implied that my message was actually, in some way, a trap. My post was "about laws" rather than necessarily what I "believe" because the message was practically word-for-word the law.
A photographer who doesn't want to photograph a particular law is not subject to a public accommodation. The law allows businesses to discriminate in certain cases.
I agree that we need to find a balance in our laws and in our society.
For the most part, we have.
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