(J. Scott Park | MLive.com)
Mayor Dobies joins 160+ other mayors, cities, and local jurisdictions urging justices not to allow discrimination in taxpayer-funded government services
Jackson, MI — Today Mayor Dobies joined more than 160 other mayors, cities, and local governments, as well as the U.S. Conference of Mayors, in asking the Supreme Court to rule in favor of upholding nondiscrimination requirements regulating government contractors and taxpayer-funded agencies. The friend-of-the-court brief supports the city of Philadelphia in the case Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, which will be heard by the Court on November 4.
The brief says, in part, that mayors and local governments rely on contractors to deliver a wide range of public services to their diverse communities, and that allowing contractors to opt out of nondiscrimination requirements would be harmful and impair the delivery of those services.
“As a mayor, I know that our constituents need access to services from a wide variety of contractors and service providers without fear of discrimination,” said Mayor Dobies. “A loss in this case would result in taxpayer-funded agencies gaining a broad right to discriminate. It would harm Jackson residents, especially the most vulnerable and LGBTQ members of our community. In Jackson, no one should worry about being turned away from crucial services because of who they are or who they love. That’s what our city believes.”
In total, the mayors, cities, and towns represented in the brief serve more than 50 million Americans. They join a number of other amicus brief signers in support of the city of Philadelphia, including major child welfare professional associations, LGBTQ youth service providers, faith-based foster care agencies, faith leaders, legal scholars, civil rights organizations, bipartisan elected officials, and more.
Fulton v. City of Philadelphia considers whether a foster care agency may override the city of Philadelphia’s contractual nondiscrimination requirement, which incorporates the city’s fair practices ordinance, and turn away LGBTQ people or others seeking to be foster parents, based on the agency’s religious beliefs. The outcome of the case may have broad implications for the application of nondiscrimination laws and government policies around the country.
For more information on the case, visit https://www.freedomforallamericans.org/fulton/.