Free Republic

When scholars enthuse over laws and regulations, they are often the last to notice the unintended consequences of the statutes and rules. “Why is every attempt that involves aggressive enforcement of civil rights laws against your views?” Columbia law professor Theodore M. Shaw asked at a Federalist Society meeting at the Mayflower hotel here in Washington last week. Shaw refused to entertain the possibility that the enforcement he desires may harm the very people the policies are designed to protect. For example, in April 2012, the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission urged employers not to use criminal background checks...

The Obama administration’s claim that criminal background checks discriminate against minority job applicants suffered a lashing from a federal court that found the allegations “laughable,” “distorted,” “cherry-picked,” “worthless” and “an egregious example of scientific dishonesty.” That kind of whipping from a federal judge has got to hurt though it’s unlikely to deter the administration from spending more taxpayer dollars to file frivolous lawsuits against employers who use the checks to screen job applicants. Judicial Watch wrote about this a few weeks ago when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency that enforces the nation’s workplace discrimination laws, sued...