Abusive by Nature

Columnist Ron Hart takes note of yet another misuse of government power by the Obama Administration:

A high school buddy sent me an e-mail saying the EEOC was suing Dollar General for performing criminal background checks on prospective employees. I thought it was such outlandish Internet misinformation and did not even try to verify it via Snopes. It turned out to be true.

...

The EEOC suit alleges that, by performing background checks for convictions for murder, assault and battery, rape, child or spousal abuse, and manufacturing of drugs, Dollar General is "racist." It says because African-Americans have higher conviction rates than whites, background checks are discriminatory.

Hart frames the story as yet another example of the Obama Administration going after political opponents. That is alarming enough, whether or not it is true. Nevertheless, the fact that such laws remained on the books for so long without serious efforts at repeal is what alarms me. Not only has the government no business telling people -- even racist scoundrels -- whom to hire, but such laws have also always presented the potential for abuse through selective enforcement.

So-called anti-descrimination laws, like our tax code, routinely violate everyone's rights, set the precedent for further abuses of government power, and provide a ready-made means for government officials to intimidate people who are merely minding their own business. They should be repealed, and ought to have been long ago. It shouldn't have taken their blatant abuse by a political opponent to cause anyone to see that.

-- CAV