Constant Conservative

I have no idea where the merits are for this particular case, yet I find myself reminded once again that government has already advanced too far into areas which it should have never done:

The Justice Department announced today that it has sued the owners and managers of three Sioux Falls, S.D., apartment buildings, alleging that they violated the Fair Housing Act when they refused to rent apartments to families with children, and when they told tenants and prospective tenants that they did not rent to African-Americans.

[...]

This lawsuit arose as a result of complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by Fair Housing of the Dakotas, a fair housing organization, and a tenant, who Phyllis Rogers told she did not rent to families with children or African-Americans. After an investigation of the complaint, HUD issued a charge of discrimination, and after complainants elected to have the case heard in federal court, the case was referred to the Department of Justice. The suit also alleges that defendants’ policy of prohibiting families with children from living in the buildings constitutes a pattern or practice of discrimination and denies rights to a group of persons. The suit seeks a court order prohibiting future discrimination by the defendants, monetary damages for those harmed by the defendants’ actions and a civil penalty.

[...]

The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability and familial status. Since Jan. 1, 2001, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has filed 275 cases to enforce the Fair Housing Act, 80 of which have alleged discrimination based on race, and 56 of which have alleged discrimination based on familial status.

Let’s look at that sentence which includes the “denies rights to a group of persons.” This is a “right” which has been fabricated from something other than the US Constitution. The “right” to fair housing is in the same category as the “right” to an education and the “right” to a job and the . . . well, you get the idea.

I am not claiming that it is correct and proper, or even legal, as the law now stands for an apartment owner to refuse housing to the above-mentioned groups. I am, however, claiming that housing is not a right–it is a privilege.

Altogether too many privileges (of which American citizens and visitors are the often ungrateful recipients) have been promoted to “rights.” My concern is that under the next Federal administration, this promotion of privileges will take up an accelerated pace.