Does a business in the US have a right to refuse service to anyone, for any reason?

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anonymous

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I don't believe they do. I haven't seen a business with a sign out front saying "no blacks allowed," nor would I ever want to. Wasn't someone sued for having a sign that said "speak English" outside his store? (He won the case, I believe, but was still brought into court.)

I don't believe businesses can discriminate based on race or gender.

If same-sex marriage is legal, would caterers, florists and wedding photographers be able to refuse to work on such ceremonies?
 
And as a church, we would have to allow this abomination in our doors, or possibly be sued. This is a blatant attack on our freedom of religion. Even though if you take a vote, people say NO overwhelmingly in every state. Even Californians said no and that has to be the most liberal state in the nation. So I don't think this should even be an issue.
 
The law is quite wrong on this issue. If I own a business, and I choose to do business with certain people and not certain others, that is nobody's business but mine. Freedom of association and private property rights far outweigh the rights of government.
 
In the u.s., a place of public accommodation may not refuse service based on race or a couple other factors. That does not apply to every business, only places of public accommodation. In addition, many states have broader laws on the subject,
 
laws that deal with discrimination are very convoluted.

a business can refuse to serve someone, but cannot do it on the basis of gender or race. for example:

Person is an asshole: refuse service
person is a black asshole: refuse service
Person is black : cannot refuse service

In the case of the storeowner with the sign saying "speak english", the defense may have claimed that it was to facilitate communication between customers and staff (that's what I would have done)
 
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