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New Law Undermines Bill of Rights
Contributed by: Johnathan Osborn on 8/14/2008

Three weeks ago, Senate Bill 200 was signed by Governor Ritter and became law. Although opposition to the bill had been fairly intense before it became law, opponents of the bill were stunned into shocked silence by the sweeping audacity of its final language, and by the far-reaching implications it holds for the future.

SB-200 puts in place the guidelines for the establishment of a seven member "Civil Rights Commission" whose primary purpose will be to address alleged acts of discrimination throughout the state. The membership of the committee will consist of "At least four members who are members of groups of people who have been or who might be discriminated against because of disability, race creed, color, sex, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, national origin, ancestry, marital status, religion or age." (Capital letters in original) The most frightening thing about this part of the bill is its ambiguity. It does not say that the members of the committee must come from different people groups that might be or have been discriminated against, merely that they must come from some such people group. Such wording leaves open the possibility that the council could be dominated by members who come from a single people group, which could have negative impacts on the integrity of the committee.

Another section of the bill deals with discrimination appertaining to places of public accommodation. It states that:

"It is a discriminatory practice and unlawful for a person, directly or indirectly, to refuse, withhold from, or deny to an individual or group, because of disability, race, creed, color, religion or sexual orientation---the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages or accommodations of a place of public accommodation."

This wording of the bill means that men are now legally capable of walking into the women's restroom, and vice versa. According to Kevin Swanson, Director of CHEC, "Henceforth, every woman or little girl will have to fear that a predator, bisexual, cross-dresser or even a homosexual or heterosexual male might walk in and relieve himself in their presence---those who would attempt to protect females from this intrusion are subject to a fine of up to $5,000 and up to one year behind bars."

But, wait, the bill gets even more sinister and far-reaching. Section 24-34-701 states the following: "No person, being the owner, lessee, proprietor, manager, supervisor agent or employee of any place of public accommodation, resort or amusement, directly or indirectly, by himself or herself or through another person shall publish, issue, circulate, send, distribute give away or display in any way manner or shape, or by any means or method, except as provided in this section, any communication, paper, poster, folder, manuscript, book, pamphlet, writing, print, letter, notice or advertisement of any kind nature or description that is intended or calculated to discriminate or actually discriminates against any disability, race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin or ancestry, or that the patronage, custom, presence frequenting, dwelling, staying, or lodging at such place by any person or class of persons belonging to or purporting to be of any particular disability--RELIGION, SEX, SEXUAL ORIENTATION,---is unwelcome or objectionable or not acceptable, desired or solicited."

So what does all this mean? What are its implications? It means thatbookstores cannot display books that anyone, of whatever persuasion, might find objectionable. It means that authors or journalists cannot have their works displayed in "places of public accomodation" if there is a remote possibility that such might make someone feel uncomfortable or unwelcome. It means that Christian bookstores and establishments cannot display the Bible, because it refers to homosexuality as sin in such verses as Leviticus 20:13 and Romans 29:31. Employees of "places of public accomodations" cannot read the Bible while in their workplace, as that constitutes "displaying" discriminatory works. Muslims cannot display the Koran in public places, as it also contains verses discriminating between and commenting on different people groups.

Clearly this bill violates American's right to freedom of speech, press, and religion. It should have no place in the Colorado legal system, as it is throughly and completely unconstitutional. This bill threatens everyone's freedoms, whether they realize it or not, and should be repealed as soon as possible. Our freedoms as Americans, and as Coloradans, and our identity as a state and as part of this great country, is at stake.

"If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom, and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too."---W. Somerset Maugham

Notes:
to see SB 200 for yourself, Google"Colorado SB 200" and open theAdobe Acrobat file at the top of the page.


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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Johnathan Osborn

Larkspur , CO

Johnathan Osborn has posted 5 stories and 12 comments since joining on 4/11/2008. Johnathan Osborn 's average story rating is 4.29.
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