Judge Rejects Arguments To Dismiss Imams' Lawsuit (Muslims vs Airline)

Source: AP

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ―

A federal judge on Tuesday rejected most defense arguments to dismiss a lawsuit filed by six Muslim imams who were arrested last November on a U.S. Airways jet in Minneapolis after passengers reported they were acting suspiciously.

The imams have said that three of the men in their party said their evening prayers in the airport terminal before boarding the plane, then entered the aircraft individually, except for one member who is blind and needed a guide. Once on the plane, the men did not sit together.

A passenger raised concerns about the imams through a note passed to a flight attendant. Also, witnesses reported that the imams made anti-American comments about the war in Iraq and that some asked for seat belt extensions even though a flight attendant thought they didn't need them.

U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery, in a 41-page opinion and order, said it is "dubious" that a reasonable person would conclude from those facts that the imams were about to interfere with the crew or aircraft. She said the plaintiffs had stated a plausible claim that Metropolitan Airports Commission officers violated their constitutional rights.

"We're thankful for the order and are obviously in full agreement with the judge's conclusions," said Frederick Goetz, one of the imams' attorneys. "This has always been a straightforward civil rights case. You had six individuals ... doing absolutely nothing wrong. They prayed in the airport and got arrested. That's unconstitutional, and they deserve redress."

Read more: http://wcco.com/local/imams.lawsuit.judge.2.592723.html

Paranoia is no excuse for infringing people's rights.

>sarcasm<

and the "freedom" to banish all other religions.

Allowing muslims on a plane obviously violates the "right" of these "christians" to be free of false religions

peace~

there were two Indian guys with the big bright turbans (ie not muslim) across the isle from me and my girlfriend and this redneck woman kept nervously glaring at them and trying to get the crews attention.

Thankfully the crew was too busy with their preparations and was just plain ignoring her, the only conversation I heard was that one was concerned about being transfered to a city with expensive housing and bad schools.

But redneck woman seemed to be extremely alarmed by their presense and we were concerned she was going to claim they were making threats.