More on the "Jew Couple" Incident
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When I first saw the news story about the couple who were stunned to see "Jew Couple" printed on their restaurant check, I was reluctant to blog about it, since I deemed it only marginally newsworthy.
Now, however, it's extremely newsworthy:
The couple was not denied service. They were not charged a different price. They were not publicly embarrassed (until they themselves chose to go public). Where exactly is the discrimination?
There is no evidence, absolutely none, that any crime was committed. The state attorney general therefore has no authority, absolutely none, to subpoena the restaurant's records.
Since when does the government get to "sniff out" possible civil rights violations when there no probable cause, absolutely none, to conclude that any such violation occurred? Since when are groundless fishing expeditions not banned by the Fourth Amendment?
Not only is there no evidence, absolutely none, of any crime, there is also no evidence, absolutely none, of any viable civil action against the restaurant.
A media-driven "name and shame" campaign is one thing. But no law, absolutely none, has been broken here.
My father always used to say that Richard Nixon should have taken the tapes, walked out into the middle of the White House lawn, poured gasoline on them and struck a match.
I feel much the same way for the restaurant and their register receipts.
The couple has had their fifteen minutes and have gotten their "name and shame" media coverage. Now it's time instead to "name and shame" New Jersey's activist attorney general.
Now, however, it's extremely newsworthy:
The New Jersey attorney general will subpoena computer records from the Jersey Shore restaurant that printed "Jew Couple" on a bill, a lawyer for the slurred diners said yesterday.This is, of course, utter nonsense.
The Attorney General's Office, which is apparently anxious to sniff out any possible civil rights abuse by the Parkhill Waterfront Grill, also contacted the couple's attorney, Mitchell Ansell.
"They are serving a subpoena to the restaurant for their cash register receipts to see how widespread the practices are," Ansell said yesterday, adding his clients were looking to launch legal action.
...
"It's a clear-cut case of discrimination," he said. "They absolutely violated their civil rights."
The couple was not denied service. They were not charged a different price. They were not publicly embarrassed (until they themselves chose to go public). Where exactly is the discrimination?
There is no evidence, absolutely none, that any crime was committed. The state attorney general therefore has no authority, absolutely none, to subpoena the restaurant's records.
Since when does the government get to "sniff out" possible civil rights violations when there no probable cause, absolutely none, to conclude that any such violation occurred? Since when are groundless fishing expeditions not banned by the Fourth Amendment?
Not only is there no evidence, absolutely none, of any crime, there is also no evidence, absolutely none, of any viable civil action against the restaurant.
A media-driven "name and shame" campaign is one thing. But no law, absolutely none, has been broken here.
My father always used to say that Richard Nixon should have taken the tapes, walked out into the middle of the White House lawn, poured gasoline on them and struck a match.
I feel much the same way for the restaurant and their register receipts.
The couple has had their fifteen minutes and have gotten their "name and shame" media coverage. Now it's time instead to "name and shame" New Jersey's activist attorney general.
Posted by KipEsquire on
21 August 2005
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