You Can't Say That!: The Growing Threat to Civil Liberties from Antidiscrimination Laws

Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Journey into Antidiscrimination Madness
Review: Antidiscrimination laws were once seen primarily as a means to help blacks, women, and others enter the economic mainstream. Those days have long since past. Bernstein shows that the laws are now seen primarily as enforcing a stringent moral code, one that is supposed to outweigh any competing claims, including claims of liberty backed up by the First Amendment and other constitutional rights. The Left has been the primary offender in this regard, but the Right, especially the religious right, is also willing to use antidiscrimination law to stifle speech they don't like. Especially pernicious are laws banning the creation of a "hostile environment", which are interpreted by some courts to ban any speech that any individual worker claims to find offensive. This book is an important warning, but it's also a good read. The first chapter, setting out a theoretical framework for why civil liberties should be protected against civil rights laws, is a little tough going, but after that it's a joy to read. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A Challenge for Civil Libertarians
Review: Civil libertarians have traditionally been extremely concerned about the encroachment of government on freedom of speech, freedom of religion, personal privacy, and other personal liberties. However, as David Bernstein shows in this remarkable book, antidiscrimination laws have gradually encroached on the liberties protected by the Constitution, but have mostly received a pass from civil libertarians. The ACLU and like-minded folks have looked more at the laws' good intentions than at their dangerous results; courts consistently have held that the government's "compelling interest" in eradicating discrimination bests even the First Amendment! When we've reached a point that a federal judge can order a Christian school to hire a pregnant, unmarried teacher, or a state bureaucrat can fine a woman for declining to have a lesbian roommate, or a religious woman can win a lawsuit because she objects to the fact that the store she works in sells Playboy, antidiscrimination laws have gone way too far. There's been a lot of talk about the dangers of political correctness from the right, but this book should serve as a wakeup call for civil libertarians of all parties.

Rating:
Summary: Be Careful What You Wish For...
Review: David Bernstein has done something that most lawyers have a difficult time doing - he wrote a short, accessible book for a general audience. Since I have seen law review articles that are nearly half as long as this book, that is no small feat.

To me, the most important part of the book is Bernstein's consistent emphasis on how those arguing for laws that erode civil liberties might be shooting themselves in the foot. Any law that can be used to silence the speech of those whom you do not like can also be used to silence your speech. Whether this argument will prove compelling to those in favor of speech restrictions is a matter I will leave up to the reader. I will note, however, that in general, those in favor of using government to achieve their personal goals tend to believe that the political winds will always blow in their favor.