Whatever happened to our Constitutional right of free association?
RE: Whatever happened to our Constitutional right of free association?
That went out the window when Christian businessmen were fined and threatened with jail time and their livelihood ruined for refusing to service same-sex weddings and the mainstream press and Republicans YAWNED.
This is simply and extended application of that.
Free Association isn’t, never really has, been “free”.
Free Association requires all sorts of tradeoffs. Chief among them is that the people you are “free” to associate with or not are also very much “free” to associate or not with YOU.
Democracy, even (or particularly) a representative one, is an inherent limitation on Free Association.
So consider this: the ONLY way the FedGov can impose this is through funding like HUD grants. Your local community is “free” not to take them, but thats a choice that will be made using some form of democratic means.
If your elected officials decide to take the money, you and a majority of you neighbors are “free” to vote them out of office. If you can’t muster that majority, or if it’s put to a referendum and you lose, you are “free” to move away to somewhere that doesn’t take the money.