One of the ideas that lead to the founding of the country was the liberation of the individual from the yoke of oppressive power structures, whether that be from despotic monarchs who ruled by supposed "divine right", or the tyranny of other collectives of concentrated power seeking to champion their point of view over others for various interests. We have in some ways made exceptional progress as a society of championing and institutionalizing individual liberty by creating a republic and a social contract to create institutions that give access to people when before they had none. It hasn't, as anyone knows, with, at minimum, a rudimentary knowledge of history, been perfect. We are still a work in progress.
We are a diverse society. We have many different people who talk, think, and live differently in our community. There are some who see this as a weakness, even something to be discouraged. In many cases in our history, we see our failings as a people, but the argument should be made that we are still on a journey to accomplish what the founders of the country hoped for - that we would grow into that idea of liberty and democracy where all people could, to the best of their abilities, pursue those unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
A trip through our legislative history shows that journey in landmarks such as The Bill of Rights, the 13th and 14th Amendments to the constitution, the 1875 Civil Rights Act, anti-lynching legislation, the 1964 Civil Rights and Voting Acts, and so on. Some have argued that some of the legislation wasn't necessary and they would be right were it not for the fact that the necessity for it was created by those unwilling to respect the civil liberties of others.
In 1992, the State of Florida enacted its own Civil Rights Act for the purpose of reiterating the tradition of protecting the liberties of all people. This legislative tradition has spawned at the local level, that unwillingness to tolerate discrimination in the form of Human Rights Commissions. Nearly every metropolis of any significant size has a Human Rights Commission devoted to providing a platform for a redress of grievances in holding with the intent written into the First Amendment of the United States Constitution in addition to the courts.
The basic function of a Human Rights Commission is to provide a panel of individuals to hear complaints about matters of discrimination. Their scope varies depending on what they are legislatively allowed to do. Typically most commissions hear grievances pertaining to acts of discrimination in housing and employment. The Jacksonville Human Rights Commission does this and has investigated, according to their website, 35,000 cases of discrimination and provides education for the public in the interest of discouraging practice of it.
The Jacksonville Human Rights Commission grew out of the era of consolidation when the various communities within Duval County - with the exception of Baldwin and the Beaches who retained semi-autonomy - merged into Jacksonville. It was an attempt to protect basic aspects of social and economic freedom everyone in the city who may not be able to afford fighting a discrimination case in court. This is how government provides value to the public that funds it; by offering services that show people their institutions work for them.
Jacksonville's Human Rights Commission badly needs an expansion of scope to address the needs of other communities in the city not protected specifically against being discriminated against by legislation at the Federal and State level and we seek to accomplish this through a proposed package of amendments to the existing Human Rights Ordinance which we call JAXHRO - 2014. What this package of amendment offer is the simple expansion of the panel to hear and, if necessary, act in cases of discrimination against people in our LGBT community, plus additions discouraging discrimination against non-violent ex-offenders , and former military discharge.
Many other cities around the state have expanded their Human Rights Commissions, for example, to hear and respond to cases of discrimination against people of their LGBT communities. As a result cases of discrimination in these cities are low as the expansion of scope creates an awareness of the issue. In the case of Jacksonville, there is no awareness as the general attitude is one of apathetic cynicism which explains the lack of compiling statistics that are in anyway useful in even obtaining an understanding. In other words we assume there isn't a problem due to the fact that no one even extends even the bare minimum of intellectual curiosity by looking into it.
To put this into perspective, the Human Rights Campaign, an organization dedicated to championing the cause of legislation to protect the rights of LGBT people, published a report last year including a rating system of communities across the country. Based on criteria that included fairness of employment, treatment in public establishments, and other categories, including housing, Jacksonville scored 15 points; Tallahassee, our capital, scored a 46. Miami, Orlando, and Tampa, the three other large metropolitan areas in Florida scored as much as 40 to 50 points higher. The thing all of these cities have in common is that their Human Rights Commissions all extend access to their LGBT communities.
A city of our size should strive to be a leader in our state to protect the liberties of all people. It is fair that we have people who serve our food, care for us when we're ill, start businesses that put people to work, and serve our community in many useful ways in addition, be treated in some places like second class citizens simply for whom they are? I believe that any reasonable person has to reject that idea. How about you?
The mission of our Human Rights Commission mentions that its purpose is insure access to benefits of living in our city yet there is a segment of our population that through poor past choices suffer a lockout of the change to return to productive life. Many non-violent ex-offenders are restricted from being able to obtain the basic means of self-support despite having paid their debt to society. As a result they are left with very few options other than staying in a system that encourages recidivism. A fairly recent study done by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office cites that a little over 30% of offenders are of a non-violent nature. These offenses include traffic offenses, petty repeat crimes, drug offenses, with many repeat offenders being people from our homeless community. What this shows is that this lack of access to obtain gainful employment and housing creates a situation where options are few and temptations are great.
Many states are championing the cause of working to restore basic civil rights for non-violent ex-offenders to allow them the opportunity to better their own condition in the hopes of breaking the recidivist cycle often unintentionally created by municipalities who get federal and state money to fill up beds in their jails. We have to understand that being "tough on crime" shouldn't mean creating a criminal justice system with a revolving door, and also that for every person we can return to a productive life, once out of jail, creates more savings for taxpayers by turning convicts into contributors. Any reasonable person has to see the merit of a large community like Jacksonville taking the lead on such a thing. How about you?
Some folks who have served in our military encounter discrimination based upon what is listed as the reason for there discharge. Despite the fact that it is illegal to discriminate on this basis on the federal level, there has been a need for state governments to champion this legislation as well. Military service is not for every individual and should not carry an unfair stigma that can lead to disenfranchisement. This is another area where the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission can show leadership in the southeast and even the country.
Fighting some of the fundamental problems our society faces deal specifically with problems our society has struggled with for the last fifty years: poverty, increased criminalization, and discrimination. In an era when government is decentralizing, it is all the more important for communities to tackle these issues head on. In the case of our city, by taking bold new steps we can champion these issues on a small level through expanding a simple platform at relative inexpense. In doing so, we can expand social and economic liberty, empowering people by insuring - at least on a small scale - their ability to be self-reliant. In the process what we will end up accomplishing is enriching the lives of more people in our community, broadening our tax base, creating more customers for local businesses, and promoting our city by taking a leadership role in the southeast by setting a positive example for neighboring communities to follow.
Robert Montgomerie
Please sign this petition...
https://www.change.org/petitions/residents-of-duval-county-florida-and-jacksonville-city-council-support-the-cause-for-an-all-inclusive-human-rights-ordinance-for-jacksonville-florida-support-hrojax-2014
Please expand or explain...
QuoteSome folks who have served in our military encounter discrimination based upon what is listed as the reason for there discharge. Despite the fact that it is illegal to discriminate on this basis on the federal level, there has been a need for state governments to champion this legislation as well. Military service is not for every individual and should not carry an unfair stigma that can lead to disenfranchisement. This is another area where the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission can show leadership in the southeast and even the country.
Badly needed legislation; thanks for taking the lead on this.
Quote from: BridgeTroll on February 10, 2014, 02:54:24 PM
Please expand or explain...
QuoteSome folks who have served in our military encounter discrimination based upon what is listed as the reason for there discharge. Despite the fact that it is illegal to discriminate on this basis on the federal level, there has been a need for state governments to champion this legislation as well. Military service is not for every individual and should not carry an unfair stigma that can lead to disenfranchisement. This is another area where the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission can show leadership in the southeast and even the country.