The New York City Commission on Human Rights, an oversight agency that monitors compliance with the city's incredibly broad anti-discrimination law, has ordered the fashion company Prada to stop selling certain toy dolls—described by many as racist caricatures akin to blackface—and send its employees to sensitivity training.

In doing so, the overzealous agency is claiming vast new powers to police a private entity's behavior. Unfortunately, Prada is meekly submitting to the commission's demands, and other companies—including Dior and Gucci—are facing similar inquisitions.

This is just the latest in a series of power grabs on the part of the commission, which has vastly exceeded its authority and now represents a serious threat to free expression in New York City.

In September, the commission announced that an employer or landlord's use of the term "illegal alien" could be considered a form of illegal discrimination, and result in a fine of up to $250,000. This sweeping declaration was made without any reference to oft-cited limitations: Hostile speech must generally be severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive to rise to the level of harassment, for example. This raises questions about whether the commission's guidance would survive a legal challenge on First Amendment grounds.

But even before this declaration, the commission had begun an investigation into Prada after receiving complaints that some of their merchandise was racially insensitive, according to The New York Times: