Theos-Talk Archives (March 2003 Message tt00110)

Steve Stubbs wrote:
> > A dress code IS permissible in a public accommodation, but it 
> cannot be 
> > used to get around the above rules of discrimination (for example, 
> you 
> > cannot throw out someone who has no feet because they're not 
> wearing 
> > shoes; you cannot throw out a Hasidic Jew or an Amish man because 
> he has 
> > a beard, etc.).
> I appreciate your argument, which is very interesting. But I believe 
> T-shirts which contain messages some people find offensive can 
> probably be banned from shopping malls. 
They can be, but the rules need to be specific and equally applied. For 
example, ALL message T-Shirts can be banned, or the wearing of T-Shirts 
altogether. Wearing T-Shirts that contain what courts have defined as 
obscenities or "fighting words" can also be banned (and even that has 
been put in question in some areas; on many college campuses, it is OK 
to wear a T-Shirt that says, "Kill the Jews", but not one that says, 
"Kill the Blacks". But even then, the policy is written down and made 
available. There can't be "secret dress codes").

Bart Lidofsky