ASSIGNMENT
Reply to this narrative:
Devora and Ness have already talked about the primary points, so it’s difficult to quantify what has already been told differently. Protected classes were created under the same basis as protected speech is maintained: to operate freely without fear of oppression or restriction from a legal perspective. Like any other laws, protected classes, like Ness has brought up, are identified through case law and substantiated later on. It seems we are at the point where some are protected, and some are not. Which seems inherently unfair, but like any other change, it takes time to become legally evident then ultimately substantiated over time. The implications of naming “certain groups” protected is obvious in the name – protection needs to be extended to all who need it, and some don’t have that right now, which breeds partiality and misunderstanding in the law. In my opinion, this isn’t necessarily true, but like gun laws, develop differently when exposed to cultures under different court systems. We can see benefits and drawbacks of codifying protection in the law by looking at workplace policy to start. I work in a military environment, where EO policy exists, protecting different people WHILE AT WORK. The relation is interesting because in a military environment, work policy applies to the employee all the time, everywhere you go, similar to codified law would operate. Benefits are that the punishment would be apparent all the time if something occurs, and drawbacks would be the disparity which seems apparent in the law would be present all the time.
Protected classes were created under Title VII and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to end segregation, not just in the schools but employment as well. In all public facilities, the civil rights movement prohibited discrimination on the bases of race, sexuality, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It was a way of reconstructing the nation’s deeply rooted discriminatory actions both made publicly and discreet. Unfortunately, some of the implication of naming certain groups as protected classes causes there to be some form of elevation regarding those in certain groups. On the other hand, it holds employers to a standard regulated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) by being held accountable for their discriminatory actions against individuals. As time has moved on, more amendments have been made such as the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. These implications serve towards both the benefits and drawbacks in the law for protected classes.
