Judge Wins Muslim Religious Freedom Suit

A Michigan state judge sued for trampling a Muslim woman’s religious freedom by ordering her to remove her head cover in his courtroom has been exonerated by a federal court.

In an outrageous case of political correctness run amok, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge William Callahan got sued by a terrorist group that bills itself as a Muslim civil rights organization for essentially enforcing a longtime no-hat rule in his courtroom.

In this case the judge politely asked a Muslim woman named Raneen Albaghdady to remove her headscarf last year during a court petition to change her name. Albaghdady didn’t challenge the judge’s request and quickly complied, never mentioning that the head cover was a “hijab” worn by Muslim women to cover their head, neck and face as per Islamic law.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a national organization that serves as the U.S. front for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, took legal action against Judge Callahan for violating Albaghdady’s fundamental right to freely practice her religion. As a “state actor” the judge had a duty not to interfere with Albaghdady’s right to exercise her fundamental constitutional right under the First Amendment free exercise clause, according to CAIR’s complaint.

The suit, posted by a legal newswire, further asserts that, because Wayne County has a large Muslim population, the customary practice of its judiciary banning hats in court will result in other individuals facing imminent harm to their fundamental civil rights.

The  Detroit federal judge who heard the case didn’t buy the ridiculous argument, however. In an 11-page ruling issued this week U.S. District Judge Marianne Battani says that Albaghdady “removed her hijab without hesitation” and that her comment and conduct undermine her ability to meet the burden to show an injury.

Citing official transcripts from the county court hearing, Judge Battani points out in her ruling that Albaghdady never protested removal of her head piece, never informed Judge Callahan that the hat was a hijab, and most critically, when asked to remove it, said, “Okay. It doesn’t matter.”

CAIR files these sorts of lawsuits all the time on behalf of Muslims who have supposedly been wronged by the big bad U.S.A. The Washington D.C.-based group with offices nationwide claims to promote justice for Muslims and enhance understanding of Islam but it does a lot more than that.

Top FBI counterterrorism chiefs describe it as an entity that, not only promotes terrorism, but also finances it. One group has dedicated itself to documenting CAIR’s extensive terrorist ties which include a top official sentenced to 20 years in prison for participating in a network of militant jihadists, another convicted of bank fraud for financing a major terrorist group, a board member who was a co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a fundraiser identified by the U.S. Treasury Department for financing Al Qaeda.