The Limits of the First Amendment

There is a fight in Minneapolis that all of us should watch. An Immam in Minneapolis has declared that the Moslem cab drivers in the city should not take passengers who are carrying alcohol because alcohol is prohibited by the Koran. Indeed, the First Amendment assures that people in this country have a right to the free exercise of religion. But this nonsensical notion should be opposed by the city officials.

Cab drivers are providing a public conveyance and if they want to solicit their fares on the public roads they should be required to live up to the civil rights protections that have impailed many other narrow minded ideas. The standard of public accomodations is applicable here. The cab drivers are compelled to not discriminate on the basis of religion. If riders in cabs actually consumed alcohol in the cab - then the Immam would have a leg to stand on. But the riders are simply carrying a legal good, which good Moslems do not consume.

If the Minneapolis authorities fail to understand the importance of this principle, it is a sad day for reasonable interpretations of First Amendment rights.