Rules for Muslims and rules for everyone else. Creep, creep.
via Somali case: Rochester woman accused of aiding terrorists need not stand in court, appeals court says – TwinCities.com.
A Rochester woman who refused to stand
when a judge entered the courtroom during her trial last year may have
had a religious right to keep her seat, a federal appeals court has
ruled.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a
ruling Monday, June 4, threw out 19 of 20 contempt citations that Chief
U.S. District Judge Michael Davis had levied against Amina Farah Ali
because she wouldn’t rise when court was called to order.
On the first day of her trial on charges
of raising money for the terrorist group al-Shabaab, Ali ignored Davis’
order to rise, telling him she interpreted Islamic teachings to mean she
didn’t have to stand for anybody.
The judge disagreed, saying that rising was a show of respect to the legal process and that court “decorum” demanded she stand.
But the appeals court said that Ali’s
refusal “was rooted in her sincerely held religious beliefs,” and that
Davis was wrong not to consider those before he found her in contempt
and sentenced her to 100 days in jail.
The court said Davis’ ultimatum to Ali —
violate your religious beliefs or face criminal penalties —
“substantially burdens the free exercise of religion.”
Davis should have considered Ali’s rights
under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, often known as
RFRA, a three-judge panel of the court said. They told Davis to
reconsider his actions and “reach a balance between maintaining order
and avoiding unnecessary and substantial burdens on sincere religious
practices.”
Ali, 35, and co-defendant Hawo Mohamed
Hassan, 65, also of Rochester, were tried in Davis’ court last October,
charged with conspiring to raise money for al-Shabaab, a group fighting
Somalia’s U.N.-backed government. They were eventually convicted. Ali and Hassan are awaiting sentencing while in a St. Paul halfway house.
Why aren’t they in jail? Read more
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