Letter from the
NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC.
July 14, 1999
Congressman John Conyers, Jr.
2426 Rayburn Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-2214
Dear Congressman Conyers:
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. ("LDF"), urges you to oppose final passage of H.R. 1691, The Religious Liberty Protection Act of 1999 ("RLPA"). LDF litigates civil rights cases throughout the country on behalf of African Americans and other minorities in an effort to preserve equity, fairness and justice in education, employment, housing, health care, environment, criminal justice, and voting rights. RLPA poses a potential threat to this type of litigation as RLPA may be used in a manner to limit African Americans and other minorities' rights to seek protection from discrimination under state and local antidiscrimination laws.
Defendants in discrimination cases brought under state or local fair housing, employment, etc., laws may seek to avoid liability by claiming protection under RLPA. This would require individuals and groups proceeding under such state and local antidiscrimination laws to prove that the law they wish to utilize is a least restrictive means of furthering a compelling governmental interest. This requirement would significantly increase the litigation time and expense of pursuing even workaday antidiscrimination actions and as a result could hinder or preclude some plaintiffs from pursuing their claims.
Even if the courts ultimately rule, as they should, that the various state and local antidiscrimination statutes are least restrictive means to further compelling governmental interests, the uncertainty of whether statutes will withstand a RLPA defense may dissuade plaintiffs from seeking redress under antidiscrimination statutes. Of course, if any court were to determine that a particular antidiscrimination statute were not a least restrictive means of furthering a compelling governmental interest, a successful RLPA defense would completely bar a plaintiff from proceeding under that stature. In either event, RLPA will create an additional burden for plaintiffs attempting to vindicate their civil rights.
For these reasons, LDF asks that you oppose RLPA, which may be used as a mechanism to limit African Americans and other minorities from proceeding under the sate and local laws that prohibit discrimination in a wide range of areas.
Sincerely,
Elaine R. Jones
Director-Counsel
Reed Colfax
Assistant Counsel