Re: Freedom Forum report on the State of the First Amendment

[dlv@bwalk.dm.com (Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM)]

Bill Stewart <bill.stewart@pobox.com> writes:
>
> >>> Umm, no, freedom doesn't work like that.  If you open a *private*
> >>> establishment, you have the right, according to the constitution, to
> >>> deny *anyone* the right to enter or eat in your restraunt.
>
> I don't see freedom of association listed anywhere there;

Freedoms not explicitly enumerated there aren't protected? Come on.

> you might construe it as a "taking" or something, but it'd be a stretch.
> Also, there was a really appalling court case in the 1890s
> (Plessey vs. Ferguson), in which the Supremes ruled that states
> could require segregation with separate but equal accommodations;
> it was somewhat overturned by Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954,
> but the idea that the government can tell you how to run your business
> is long established (after all, we'd need much smaller governments
> if they couldn't be interfering in business.)

It was wrong for the gubmint (state) to require segregation just as it
is wrong for it to prohibit racial discrimination.

When martin luther king was boycotting buses et al, he had much support
from the private bus companies, who were required by the states to
segregate, but didn't want to.

"I have a dream.  I want my birthday to be a holiday." -MLK

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<a href="mailto:dlv@bwalk.dm.com">Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM</a>
Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps