Saturday, June 30, 2018

Hypocrisy 101 and the Little Red Hen

Re President's press secretary being chased out of a restaurant: Liberals argue it was private property. Yet in Heart of Atlanta Motel (v. US, 379 US 241) and Ollie's Barbecue (Katzenbach McClung, 379 US 294) (both 1964) SCOTUS ruled that being "public accommodations" the owners could not refuse to serve would-be patrons because of their race. Well, how about equal treatment no matter Mrs. Sanders political convictions? After all, is not the Little Red Hen a "public accommodation"?

2 comments:

Henry Cohen said...

I would clarify for non-lawyers that the reason that public accommodations may not refuse to serve would-be patrons on the basis of their race is that Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits them from doing so. It also prohibits them from discriminating on the basis of color, religion, or national origin, but it does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of political convictions. Congress could amend it to do so, however.

I don't know the motivation of the owners of the Little Red Hen for refusing to serve Mrs. Sanders, but I suspect that it was not her political convictions so much as it was her actions, namely repeatedly lying to the press in an effort to promote the unconstitutional and morally monstrous policy of kidnapping children and babies. It was a belief, in other words, that she is not fit for decent society.

Congress could amend Title II to prohibit discrimination on that basis too, but conservatives would no doubt insist that business owners whose religious convictions prevented them from serving moral monsters were entitled to an exemption from the statute.

Ryan Montoya said...

Great bllog