[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by pylon

As a business owner you "reserve the right" to deny service to anyone you do not wish to do business with. Although their reasons to refuse service may be veiled in complete ignorance, why does this require a law?

The bolded part is not true.

Business owners can't use discriminatory reasons as justification to refuse service. A restaurant owner, for example, would not be permitted to run a "whites only" establishment.

The Federal Civil Rights Act guarantees all people the right to "full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin."

The right of public accommodation is also guaranteed to disabled citizens under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which precludes discrimination by businesses on the basis of disability.

In addition to the protections against discrimination provided under federal law, many states have passed their own Civil Rights Acts that provide broader protections than the Federal Civil Rights Act. For example, California's Unruh Civil Rights Act makes it illegal to discriminate against individuals based on unconventional dress or sexual preference.

In the 1960s, the Unruh Civil Rights Act was interpreted to provide broad protection from arbitrary discrimination by business owners. Cases decided during that era held that business owners could not discriminate, for example, against hippies, police officers, homosexuals, or Republicans, solely because of who they were.

Emphasis added.

http://www.legalzoom.com/us-law/equa...refuse-service