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More on Sultaana Freeman

May 29, 2003 12:38 PM
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update To Phillip and Shadow, I do not consider travelling a privilege. Under almost all circumstances (say, an outstanding warrant for one's arrest), it's an important right.

However, that particular method of travel — i.e. driving — on public — i.e. government owned — roads is not a fundamental right. It is subject to the laws of the land.

If she wants to drive a golf cart on a private course, or a regular automobile on her own property, she can go right ahead. And if she wants to walk or ride a bike on streets where the government has juristiction, that's not an issue either.

update There is other info at LGF, including the precedents of Muslim nations on this issue. Surprise — they don't allow veils in IDs either.

The intrepid investigators at The Smoking Gun have found an unveiled photo of the Muslim woman I mentioned earlier. How'd the get it? She had a mug shot taken when she was arrested for beating the shit out of her foster child. She pled guilty to felony aggravated battery.


Comments: More on Sultaana Freeman

Several other key issues.

1. Driving is not a fundamental right, it is a priviledge. The state should not be required to show a clear and compelling interest in violating her right to free religion.

2. Even if you buy her interpretation of Islam, she can have her photo taken by a woman and already has the right to refuse arrest until a female officer is present (i.e., no man needs to see her license.)

The ACLU picked the wrong person for a test case. Not only is she is convicted felon, but she also lied on the stand with regards to whether or not she has already been photographed without her veil. (She admitted she had, but in her deposition, she said she hadn't).

Posted by: Daniel Grossberg on May 29, 2003 5:23 PM | permalink

And here's the problem, with both the decision and your analysis of the situation: The Florida Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) of 1998. You may not realize this, but in the mid-1990s, the Supreme Court handed down several decisions which made it much easier for states and the federal government to restrict your right to practice (or not practice) religion. In response, many states passed RFRAs, attempting to restore the law to its previous state: under RFRA, a state must demonstrate that it has (1) a COMPELLING interest to burden religion, and that (2) the practice burdening the religion is the "least restrictive means" of pursuing its compelling interest. So what does that mean?
First off, the law doesn't require or allow any inquiry into the individual's background--is it really RIGHT that, had Sultaana Freeman had a spotless past, you would be more willing to allow her to express her religious beliefs? Secondly, and this seems pretty obvious to me, but Islamic countries do not have RFRA, and are therefore not compelled to justify their actions. Sultaana Freeman does not live in Saudi Arabia--she should not have to live by its laws. Perhaps RFRA is the reason she *doesn't* live in Saudi Arabia. The only laws to which Sultaana is subject, and the only ones which protect her, are the laws of the U.S. Goverment and the State of Florida.
Further, driving is more than a privilege. To someone with two children, living in Orange Country, Florida, with seriously inadequate public transportation, driving becomes a near necessity. And for the last 20 years, states all over the country had found that (1) when a privilege such as driving is nearly necessary to carrying out one's daily functions, it must be treated as a right, and (2) for the RFRA inquiry, it doesn't matter if the you're dealing with a privilege or a right--the only inquiry is whether there is a substantial burden to the individual's religion.
Lastly, RFRA forbids interference with the "exercise of religion," which the state defines as "an act or refusal to act that is substantially motivated by a religious belief, whether or not the religious exercise is compulsory or central to a larger system of religious belief." Thus, if Sultaana Freeman interprets Islamic law to say that she cannot unveil herself for a drivers license, it's HER BELIEF, not others' interpretation of Islam, that matters.
Oh, and there's no D in privilege.

Posted by: Eden-Expatriate on June 21, 2003 7:10 PM | permalink

I find your notion that driving is not a right disturbing.

We have a right of movement, of travel. In contemporary America, that means driving. Where that basic right has been infringed is in the decades of regulation involving licenses, taxes and fees, generally sold as a means of ensuring uniformity, public safety, and paying for items like cost of road maintenance.

The elemental right is firmly based in the fact that very few people can earn a living sitting in one place and never moving. The vastly overwhelming majority of people have to have freedom of movement in order to conduct commerce and make a paycheck. Only a firmly entrenched bureacrat would think freedom of movement was a privilege.

The argument that driving is merely a government-bestowed privilege is ludicridous. You might consider arguing the Second Amendment applies only to muskets. That falls into the same realm of diluting basic rights to fit the contemporary practice of watering down the Constitution.

Posted by: Phillip Johnston on June 30, 2003 1:02 PM | permalink

Since you believe that driving is a privilege rather than a right, I am assuming it is because a govt. issued drivers license is required. In that line of thinking, then,,, "Marriage" must he considered a "Privilege" and not a right. No state acknowledges a "Marriage" unless the couple has a properly obtained govt. issued license to be married. (of course common law may apply, but only after a govt. mandated length of time is served in co-habitation). Brainwashing is so complete in this nation as to render most people totally in-line with the thought that govt. has a RIGHT to grant us privileges in every portion of our lives.... you really should look at what the Constitution as amended by the Bill of Rights has to say about the roll of govt. and the "Rights" of the people.

Posted by: Shadow Walker on June 30, 2003 2:54 PM | permalink

No more comments! Either someone has violated Godwin's Law, I'm tired of the discussion or, most likely, the ten-week window has closed. You can, however, contact me through email.