Friday, March 30, 2007

Muslim Suit

A story on msnbc.com today reports that six Muslim men who were removed from an airplane last year after being accused of suspicious behavior are suing not only the airline (for violating their civil rights) but also the passengers who complained about them after overhearing them praying and chanting in Arabic, speaking of Saddam Hussein, and cursing the United States.

The Muslim men say they were humiliated, and their attorney says this was a case of members of the community creating stories that do not exist due to prejudice. In the article, Billie Vincent, a former director of security for the FAA, identified the huge problem this lawsuit creates...

Airline passengers “are your eyes and your ears. If attorneys can get those names and sue them, you put a chilling effect on the whole system.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17874497/

Whether it turned out to be an overreaction or not, these passengers were only trying to do their part to make themselves and their fellow passengers safe in the air. Thankfully, numerous attorneys have offered to represent the passengers free of charge, and Congress this week approved an amendment to a transportation security bill that would make passengers immune from such lawsuits, unless they say something they know is false.

It is an outrage that any attorney would represent these Muslim men in this lawsuit against the passengers. It will be an even bigger outrage if the judge assigned to hear it doesn't dismiss this case against the passengers immediately, with friviolous lawsuit sanctions against the Muslims' attorney.

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