UPDATED: House subcommittee tosses discrimination elements from religious freedom bill
Source: Mississippi Business Journal
by Ted Carter
Published: February 27,2014
The Mississippi House of Representatives Civil Subcommittee late Wednesday voted to strike provisions of a so-called “religious freedom” bill that the ACLU and other legal experts said invites widespread discrimination, especially against gay, lesbian and trans-gender people.
The action came on Senate Bill 2681, a measure approved 48-0 on Jan. 31 and sent on to the House. The bill was more popularly known for an amendment that requires inserting “In God We Trust” into the state seal, but a closer examination of it led legal experts to conclude that it would allow private businesses and government entities to discriminate based on religious grounds.
The subcommittee removed a key provision of SB 2681 ahead of Thursday’s consideration of the bill by the House Judiciary Committee B. The provision provides that a defendant in a discrimination lawsuit can assert a claim of defense on the grounds of a burden being placed on religious beliefs.
The ACLU said the provision would allow businesses to turn away customers on religious grounds and government officials to refuse to hire based on religious beliefs.
Read more: http://msbusiness.com/blog/2014/02/26/mississippis-version-anti-gay-bill-broader-arizonas/
Mississippi Anti-Gay Discrimination Bill Gutted By House Committee
DYLAN SCOTT – FEBRUARY 27, 2014, 11:56 AM EST
A Mississippi "religious freedom" bill, similar to the one vetoed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer Wednesday, has had its most controversial provision stripped out by a legislative committee.
The Mississippi Business Journal reported that the language considered problematic by civil rights groups had been removed from the bill Wednesday by lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee. It would have allowed defendants in civil lawsuits to claim that their religious beliefs were being burdened.
The Mississippi Senate had passed the bill with the controversial language in January.
Business groups praised the provision's removal, according to the Business Journal, with the president of the Mississippi Economic Council noting that it was now "not the same bill" that the Senate had passed.
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