Robert L. Porreca: Refusal of services not the answer
Most of the opinion being thrown around regarding the new law that lets North Carolina magistrates opt out of performing weddings if the wedding violates their religious beliefs misses the point entirely.
The law allows employees, at their discretion, to refuse to perform a function of the job for which they were hired. That this alone is fundamentally wrong seems to have slipped past the guardians of political correctness.
Instead, the weeping and wailing are confined to the narrow topic of the denial of same-sex marriage services. To be fair, magistrates who opt out of performing a part of their job description should have their pay cut and receive poor performance reviews.
Perhaps the creation of two types of magistrate, a civil and a criminal one, would be a correction.
Maybe prohibiting magistrates from performing all marriages would be more sensible.
Allowing any public employee the latitude to refuse to perform a part of the job is not the answer, whatever the question happens to be.
Robert L. Porreca
Hillsborough
This story was originally published July 18, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Robert L. Porreca: Refusal of services not the answer."