Senate Bill No. 572
(By Senators Hunter and Kessler)
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[Introduced February 14, 2007; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §35A-1-8, relating to
discrimination against members of duly registered club
organizations; and providing for criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §35A-1-8, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1. REGISTRATION.
§35A-1-8. Unlawful discrimination.
(a) No person, individual, business or corporation may enact,
enforce, or implement any policy or undertake any action which
would:
(1) Refuse, withhold from or deny to any individual or group,
because of their membership in, association with, or display of the name, badge, motto, button, decoration, charm, emblem, rosette, or
other insignia of an organization described and duly registered
under this chapter, either directly or indirectly, any of the
accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges or services of
the public accommodation, public event, or public forum; or
(2) Publish, circulate, issue, display, post or mail, either
directly or indirectly, any written or printed communication,
notice or advertisement to the effect that any of the
accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges or services of
any such place shall be refused, withheld from or denied to any
individual or group on account of their membership in, association
with or display of the name, badge, motto, button, decoration,
charm, emblem, rosette, or other insignia of an organization
described and duly registered under this chapter, or that the
patronage or custom thereat of any individual or group, belonging
to any such organization is unwelcome, objectionable, not
acceptable, undesired or not solicited; or
(3) Willfully obstruct or prevent any person from complying
with the provisions of this article, or to resist, prevent, impede
or interfere with the commission or any of its members or
representatives in the performance of a duty under this article.
(b) Any person, individual, or corporation, or any officer,
director or agent of such business or corporation who violates any
provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars and not more than one
thousand dollars, or confined in jail not more than ten days, or
both fined and imprisoned.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit discrimination,
in a public place, accommodation, event or forum, against members
of clubs and associations duly registered with the Secretary of
State's office.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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