>--- [log in to unmask] wrote:
> In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
>
> CAIR
> Council on American-Islamic Relations
> 1050 17th Street, N.W., Suite 490
> Washington, D.C. 20036
> Tel: 202-659-CAIR (2247)
> Fax: 202-659-2254
> E-mail: [log in to unmask]
> URL: http://www.cair-net.org
>
> -----
>
> NEWS FROM THE AMERICAN MUSLIM COMMUNITY - 10/2/99
>
> -----
>
> JURY SIDES WITH MUSLIM WOMEN ARRESTED WHILE WEARING
> VEILS
>
> Associated Press Newswires, 10/1/1999
>
> -----
>
> Excerpts:
>
> "PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) - A jury awarded $125,000 to
> each of two Muslim women
> who were arrested at a supermarket in 1996 while
> wearing religious veils.
>
> "The jury concluded Friday that Officer John M.
> Walker was liable for
> concluding that the women's veils violated a state
> law against wearing
> masks in public.
>
> "The two women, Najla E. Doran and Sherma D.
> Humphrey, claimed false
> imprisonment and assault and battery..."
>
> -----
>
> FROM CAIR'S 1997 REPORT ON THE STATUS OF AMERICAN
> MUSLIM CIVIL RIGHTS:
>
> "...two Muslim women in Norfolk, Virginia, were
> taken into custody by
> police officers for wearing face veils in public.
> The women said they were
> walking towards a store to shop when they were
> approached by a Portsmouth
> police officer who told them they couldn't enter the
> store with a mask on.
>
> "One of the women wore a veil that revealed only her
> eyes, while the other
> wore a veil that covered her entire face. At their
> refusal to remove the
> veils, which they explained they wore for religious
> reasons, they were
> arrested, but later released without charge.
>
> "The women filed a complaint alleging they were
> fondled by the officer and
> his two partners during a weapons search, but the
> police dispute the claim.
> The women contacted CAIR, who contacted the police
> department and the
> Commonwealth State Attorney office.
>
> "Statements issued from the two departments
> acknowledged there was a
> misunderstanding. The code under which the women
> were arrested was
> originally targeted to outlaw Ku Klux Klan
> activities, and makes the
> wearing of masks in public illegal, although an
> exemption is allowed for
> religious practices. [The Virginian-Pilot, 9/18/96]
>
> -----
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