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Lucylastic -> RE: Indiania can now discriminant against anyone (3/31/2015 7:37:31 AM)
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Wa Po Throws this into the ring
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/03/30/answering-five-questions-about-indianas-new-discrimination-law/
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is probably feeling blindsided right about now. A strong conservative, he did what many other states have done and signed a “Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” which emphasizes that the government can’t stop people from exercising their religious consciences. Then all of a sudden there was an eruption: national news stories, talk of boycotts, big corporations halting plans for expanding in Indiana.
We’ll get to the broader societal context that has made this such a big issue in a bit, but first it would be helpful to clarify a couple of questions about the Indiana law.
1. Is this the same law as the federal RFRA and versions in other states?
The answer is no, for a couple of reasons. First, there’s the intent. When the federal RFRA was passed in 1993, no one was talking about gay marriage, and it wasn’t about how private individuals deal with each other. The law was spurred most directly by a case called Employment Division v. Smith, which concerned whether two Native American workers could get unemployment insurance after they had been fired from their jobs for taking peyote in a religious ritual. It was that kind of private religious conduct that the debate revolved around at the time.
But more importantly, the Indiana law is different from other laws in its specific provisions. It not only explicitly applies the law to for-profit businesses, it also states that individual can assert their religious beliefs “as a claim or defense in a judicial or administrative proceeding, regardless of whether the state or any other governmental entity is a party to the proceeding.” [emphasis added] The federal law, and most of the state laws, only concern instances where the government is forcing a person to do something or not do something; the Indiana law directly covers disputes between individuals.
Weirdly, Governor Pence thinks he can just deny that the law he signed does anything of the sort, despite this clear language. “In fact, it doesn’t even apply to disputes between private individuals, unless government action is involved,” he said yesterday on ABC’s This Week. That’s completely false.
And Indianan Repubs want to clarify
http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2015/03/30/70670728/
Indiana's Republican legislative leaders said Monday they're working on adding language to a new state law to make it clear that it doesn't allow discrimination against gays and lesbians. (March 30) AP
That was fast, but needed...good for them. We shall see what happens...or will it go to the supreme court?
It will be interesting to see how this affects 2016
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