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Friday, May 19, 2006

That Slippery Slope In Action

If you've ever heard that expression "slippery slope" here it is in action. For those who haven't understood the expression, here is what it means. Allowing something to override the Constitution because it supposedly protects us in someway, but critics consider it a step on a slippery slope that cause the Constitution to slide farther away from its' intent. And that slippery slope can continue to erode beyond that first step. Consider the following article.

Wed May 17, 11:34 AM ET

BLACK JACK, Mo. - The city council has rejected a measure allowing unmarried couples with multiple children to live together, and the mayor said those who fall into that category could soon face eviction.

Olivia Shelltrack and Fondrey Loving were denied an occupancy permit after moving into a home in this St. Louis suburb because they have three children and are not married.

The town's planning and zoning commission proposed a change in the law, but the measure was rejected Tuesday by the city council in a 5-3 vote.

"I'm just shocked," Shelltrack said. "I really thought this would all be over, and we could go on with our lives."

The current ordinance prohibits more than three people from living together unless they are related by "blood, marriage or adoption." The defeated measure would have changed the definition of a family to include unmarried couples with two or more children.

Mayor Norman McCourt declined to be interviewed but said in a statement that those who do not meet the town's definition of family could soon face eviction.

Black Jack's special counsel, Sheldon Stock, declined to say whether the city will seek to remove Loving and Shelltrack from their home.

So this is the second step on that slippery slope. This first step was banning gay marriage and/or civil unions. The third step, who knows? Maybe people will have to prove they didn't have sex until after they married in order to be able to own a home?

Now I don't know the history behind Black Jack's ordinance, how it came about, but it now is being enforced. So where does that slippery slope stop in Black Jack for instance and how many other communities are looking at Black Jack and thinking that they could have the same law and go even further down the slippery slope. What other laws will be made and enforced to discriminate against people's choices of living arrangements?

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