Equal justice has its day in City Council

he question of equal justice for all New Yorkers - regardless of race, nationality, habitation, or sexual orientation - was the major focus of the last City Council meeting.

Much of the time was devoted to the Equal Benefits Bill, which requires that companies contracting with New York City for $100,000 or more provide benefits to the domestic partners of their employees, just as they do to their employees’ spouses.

Three of the people who worked hardest to bring this bill to fruition were its author, Council Member Christine Quinn; Robert Jackson, Chair of the City Council’s Contracts Committee; and Speaker Gifford Miller. They all agreed strongly that this bill would, in Quinn’s words, "send a message to taxpayers that when we use their money, we use it with a goal of equality and full recognition of all people under the law."

Council Member Philip Reed spoke passionately as an openly gay man. After describing the "presumption of privileges" which his heterosexual friends enjoy that are denied to him, he said, "I sit in this chamber and serve 160,000 people just like every one of my colleagues. I work just as hard as they do, but still I am a second-class citizen." He urged his colleagues to take this step not just for him, but for the hundreds of thousands of people who find themselves in a similar situation. "We pay taxes to this city," he continued. "All we’re asking for is the recognition of our family rights just as anyone would like to see their families recognized."

Some councilmembers, such as Peter Vallone, Jr., opposed the bill not because they were against domestic partner rights, but because the bill doesn’t exempt religious institutions from compliance. "It forces religious institutions to violate their beliefs," stated Vallone.

But Council Member Lewis Fidler, who has often spoken up for the rights of people to practice their religion as they see fit, countered that sometimes important rights clash. He asked his colleagues to consider the bill in the light of "What if someone wanted to do business with the city but said, ‘We want to do business with you, but we don’t want to extend the same benefits that we extend to our other employees to our Jewish employees – or to our Italian employees or to people of color.’ Who would stand for that? I think the moral imperative here is very clear."

As many councilmembers explained their vote, it was obvious that the view of those like Council Member Kendall Stewart prevailed. He said simply, "I proudly vote aye on the Equal Benefits Bill because I see it strictly as a matter of equal rights. I believe it would be discriminatory for us not to extend to employees with domestic partners the same benefits that are provided to employees with spouses."

When the votes were counted, the bill passed with 43 in favor, 5 against and 2 abstentions.

Two other important pieces of legislation concerning equal justice were also passed in a voice vote.

Resolution 42 called upon the United States Congress to oppose President Bush’s federal temporary guest worker program and to support comprehensive immigration reform that includes permanent legalization and fair worker protection for immigrants. Its prime sponsor, Council Member Miguel Martinez, noted that the council has a responsibility to send a clear message that it opposes any modern-day slavery where workers are exploited and family unification is at risk. "We must support legislation that will unite families, that will guarantee protection to workers and guarantee permanent legalization," Martinez declared.

Resolution 274-A called upon United States Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Department of Justice to reopen the case of Emmett Till, in light of the discovery of new information, for a thorough and complete investigation of his 1955 murder.

We are glad to report that only a few days after the meeting, the Dept. of Justice did exactly that – reopened the case. Stated R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, "This brutal murder and grotesque miscarriage of justice outraged a nation and helped galvanize support for the modern American civil rights movement. We owe it to Emmett Till, and we owe it to ourselves, to see whether after all these years some additional measure of justice remains possible."

In the final part of the meeting when new resolutions are introduced, Council Member Margarita Lopez asked her colleagues to support her legislation that would establish electronic benefit transfer cards, which contain the cardholder’s name, photograph and other pertinent information, as a valid form of ID fully recognized by the New York City Police Department.

Lopez pointed out that homeless people have been increasingly submitted to harassment because they don’t possess what is considered valid identification, which can only be obtained by presenting a whole array of other identification and the payment of $15. "The police routinely stop them and ask for an ID with an address, but a homeless person doesn’t have an address because they are homeless by definition!" she stated emphatically. "But homeless people who are citizens already have an identification in their hands that should be deemed sufficient for ID purposes."