* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Holton
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
Title
In Support of Federal Legislation - S.2554 - The Civil Rights Act of 2008
FOR the purpose of expressing support for the Civil Rights Act of 2008 that restores Congressional protections against discrimination by strengthening the protection of Americans' civil rights and workers' rights, urging the Honorable Chair and Members of the United States Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions to give the legislation a favorable report, requesting the Honorable Members of the Maryland Delegation to the 110th Congress to secure passage of the Act, and entreating the President of the United States to sign the Civil Rights Act of 2008 into law.
Body
Recitals
Over the years, Congress has enacted bipartisan laws to ensure that federal tax dollars are not used to subsidize discrimination and to ensure that there are real remedies when civil rights are violated. As recent court decisions have weakened America's civil rights laws in ways that Congress never intended, the Civil Rights Act of 2008 has been introduced to guarantee accountability for violations of citizens' civil rights and fair labor laws and to give individuals the right to challenge practices that have unjustified discriminatory effect based on race, color, national origin, disability, age, or gender. It also gives students the same protection from harassment in school that workers have on the job and holds employers fully accountable for age discrimination and discrimination against men and women in the armed services.
Specifically, the Act will:
Ensure that Federal Funds are not Used to Subsidize Discrimination by:
(1) allowing individuals to seek relief when federal funds subsidize practices that have an unjustified discriminatory effect; and
(2) protecting students from harassment in schools that receive federal funds.
Hold Employers Accountable for Age Discrimination by:
(1) making state employers fully accountable for age discrimination; and
(2) clarifying the standard for challenging employment practices that have a discriminatory effect based on age.
Improve Accountability for Other Violations of Civil Rights and Workers' Rights by:
(1) prohibiting employers from requiring workers to give up the right to enforce employment laws in court in order to get a job or keep a job;
(2) prohibiting attorneys' fees and expert fees in major civil rights and labor cases;
(3) providing full, effective remedies for victims of discrimination based on gender and religion, paralleling those available for race and national origin discrimination claims; and
(4) providing relief for workers, regardless of immigration status, who are victims of labor and employment law violations.
Increasingly, conservative courts have eroded key civil rights protections in the workplace, the school, and the community. The original intent of Congress to provide equal opportunity for every American has been infringed upon. Passage of the Civil Rights Act of 2008 will address this troubling trend by continuing the battle against age discrimination, religious discrimination, the misuse of federal funds, and violations of workers rights.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That this Body hereby expresses support for the Civil Rights Act of 2008 that restores Congressional protections against discrimination by strengthening the protection of Americans' civil rights and workers' rights, urges the Honorable Chair and Members of the United States Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions to give the legislation a favorable report, requests the Honorable Members of the Maryland Delegation to the 110th Congress to secure passage of the Act, and entreats the President of the United States to sign the Civil Rights Act of 2008 into law.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the President, the Honorable Members of the Maryland Delegation to the 110th Congress, the Honorable Members of the Baltimore City Senate and House Delegations to the 2008 Maryland General Assembly, the Mayor, the Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of State Relations, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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