Re: Indiana's 'No Gay Wedding' Pizzeria Has Closed
Zoning laws are exactly about preventing harm. Harm to property prices, harm to environment which in turn harms people if not taking care of.
1) You are talking about harm to commerce - the same type of harm that discrimination causes.
And zoning laws are not about protecting the environment
Only where it concerns harmful effects. Tell me...what's your stance on marijuana again? Something along the lines of "no harm no foul"?
Wrong. Govts have the soveriegn power to promote commerce and have *always* had that power (at least in the history of civilization). They have also had the power to prohibit behavior which inhibits commerce, which is why we have had public accommodations laws since the first days of the US, why they fed govt has the power to regulate interstate commerce, and why states have the power to regulate intrastate commerce.
And I don't want to derail this into a discussion about MJ but allowing the sale of it does not inhibit commerce. It has the opposite effect.
If this is true then discriminating against businesses for not providing a service can also cause harm because it would run that business out of running or even preventing it from running at all. Which means less jobs and less commerce. Sorry but you can't have it both ways. But again, the federal government has no power to regulate a private intrastate business.
Regulating consumers in such a way has never been considered a legitimate exercise of govt power in this country (nor in many others) which is why the constitution does not give the govt such a power. It is a power that the people would not support, but if you want to make that case to the nation, be my guest.
What is ironic here is that you actually do have the legal right to not provide service to a business that discriminates. Or do you think that what Connecticut is doing or wanting to do illegal? IE: its called boycotting. Which is legal.
I'm not sure that is true. CT has not said it would not provide a service to Indiana. They said they will not pay for non-essential travel to that state. "Traveling to Indiana" is not a service.
Also there is a huge difference between an intrastate business such as yours and this mom and pop pizzeria. You can be regulated due to the federal governments power to regulate interstate commerce. They do not have the power to regulate intrastate commerce...which is the kind of business this mom and pop pizzeria conducts.
My business is interstate, not intrastate, but my point is that even businesses that operate at a specific location can affect interstate commerce, thereby giving the feds the power to regulate it in the areas where it does affect interstate commerce. As my example shows, discrimination by businesses that only operate within a state (such as auto mechanics, hotels, restaurants, etc) can have an inhibiting effect on interstate commerce.
Alright then...in that case how about you provide your services to the KKK? And this Pizzaria. Of course anyone that is against what this Pizzaria is doing would also have to provide their own services to them also.
I personally believe that every business that is open to the public should be required to serve the entire public. The only exceptions should be for reasons with a clear and legitimate purpose of promoting commerce. For example, disruptive behavior is a legitimate reason for refusing service because the disruptive behavior can drive business away.
At present however, the law does allow one to discriminate for some reasons but I think a business open to the public should be required to provide their normal products and services to all (with noted exceptions) including the KKK, Nazis, etc.