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Fifth Column

Florida court upholds ban of Muslim woman’s veil in driver’s licence

2005-09-08

Followup on a story we discussed last year. DAYTONA BEACH (Florida) — A Muslim woman who, for religious reasons, wanted to wear a veil in her driver’s licence photo must follow a Florida law that requires a picture of her full face, a state appeals court ruled. The Fifth District Court of Appeal upheld a 2003 ruling by an Orlando judge that Sultaana Freeman’s right to free exercise of religion would not be burdened by the photo requirement. “We recognised the tension created as a result of choosing between following the dictates of one’s religion and the mandates of secular law,” Appellate Judge Emerson R. Thompson Jr. wrote in Friday’s opinion. “However, as long as the laws are neutral and generally applicable to the citizenry, they must be obeyed.” Freeman’s attorney, Howard Marks, said yesterday he was considering an appeal.

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Home Front

Muslim Woman Cannot Wear Veil in Driver’s License Photo

2003-06-06

A Florida judge ruled Friday that a Muslim woman cannot wear a veil in her driver's license photo. Prosecutors had argued that allowing people to cover all but their eyes in their ID pictures could allow potential terrorists to hide their identities. After hearing three days of testimony last week, Circuit Judge Janet C. Thorpe ruled that the state has a compelling interest in protecting the public, and that having photo identification was essential to that interest. Thorpe also said Sultaana Freeman's right to free exercise of religion would not be infringed by having to show her face on her license. Maybe she could compromise and just use her mug shot... Freeman, 35, had obtained a license that showed her veiled with only her eyes visible through a slit. But the state revoked the license in 2001 when she refused to have her photo retaken with her face uncovered, a demand made after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Freeman sued the state of Florida, saying it would violate her Islamic beliefs to show her face publicly. Assistant Attorney General Jason Vail argued that Islamic law has exceptions that allow women to expose their faces if it serves a public good, and that arrangements could be made to have Freeman photographed with only women present to allay her concerns about modesty. Yes!

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Home Front

Burqa Girl Update: Judge holds fate of veil

2003-05-30

EFL.I figure she's on about Minute 13... Sultaana Freeman, her face hidden behind a black veil, said Thursday that neither she nor her husband sought the national attention that her three-day civil trial generated. Of, course not. Have Oprah's people called yet? Springer? Jenny Jones? Attorneys finished their closing arguments Thursday, and Orange Circuit Judge Janet Thorpe said she would rule next week on the Muslim woman's quest to reinstate her drivers license — with a photo of her face covered by the veil. Do the right thing, judgey. Minutes after the end of the nonjury trial, Freeman, 35, reaffirmed that she is only following her faith by refusing to bare her face in a photograph. I think she only does that for mug shots. "It's a command from Allah. I veil to obey my Lord," said the Winter Park woman, whose soft voice could barely be heard. "I want there to be no confusion as to why I veil. It's an act of modesty." "Hey, y'all! Lookit how modest I am! Betch'all wish you could be this modest!" But some Central Florida Muslim advocates rejected Freeman's cause, saying it is further damaging an already bruised image of American Muslims. "On the surface this is a very frivolous case," said Omar Dajani, a board member of Orlando's Arab American Community Center and a Muslim. "If the law says you have to have your picture on your drivers license, you show your face. I'm not even sure what version of Islamic law she's using — certainly not the version that the Muslim world uses." When even the Muslims think you're nuts... Freeman's fight also belittles the struggles facing many American Muslims, who are combating very real civil-rights abuses, she said. "Muslims right now are seeing their civil rights eroded," she said. "Muslims are being detained without due process. Muslims are being visited by the FBI without warning and Muslims are losing their jobs and not getting hired." Sounds like she wants to work for CAIR. Too bad she could never be a "made member". Freeman, a former utilities-company engineer and Pentecostal churchgoer from Illinois, converted to Islam in 1997 and began wearing a veil shortly after that. Testifying Wednesday, she said she does not believe in graven images or photographs and goes as far as scratching faces from cereal boxes for her 2-year-old daughter and 6-month-old son. Lucky kids. Great life they've got to look forward to, huh? In closing arguments a day later, lawyers for the state repeated their public-safety arguments. Allowing Freeman to wear her veil for a drivers license photo, they asserted, would open the door to others who might disguise themselves or use veils as covers for terrorism. Oh, no... that could never happen. The ACLU said it couldn't. Howard Marks, Freeman's Winter Park lawyer, who is backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, told Thorpe that his client's case is supported by Florida's Religious Freedom Restoration Act that protects the rights of religious minorities. "My client would not be sitting in a court of law for three days and would not subject herself to the ridicule around the country if she did not have a sincerely held religious belief," Marks said. 3 days for this bullshit? How much is this costing Florida? Marks also reminded Thorpe of at least three other civil cases decided in the 1970s and 1980s that allowed members of Christian sects to avoid having their photographs on drivers licenses because they said the Bible forbids graven images. "I'm pleading with you not to be the first one who infringes upon religious rights when it comes to drivers licenses, your honor," Marks said. Calm down, Clarence Darrow. This ain't exactly "Inherit The Wind". For much of the trial, Marks played down testimony by an Islamic expert that his client could remove her veil under certain circumstances. He contends that driving is a right or a government benefit that should not be taken away from his client simply because she is following her faith. "I'm sick of hearing that it's a privilege to drive in Florida, that it is a right," Marks said in closing arguments. State statutes say the operation of a motor vehicle is a privilege and that the drivers license bureau issues full-face digital images to license applicants. Looks like the statutes got you beat there, counselor. Freeman runs a Web site for Muslims of the conservative Salaffiyah group that follows the strict Wahabbi teachings of Sunni Islam, which dominates Saudi Arabia. She has written a brochure explaining her beliefs: "Why I Veil: Liberated by Islam." Told that women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, Freeman and her lawyer had no comment. Who? Where? What? Well what do THEY know about Islam??? Born in Washington, Freeman grew up as Sandra Keller in a Christian environment and was active in her church. "I was put on the pulpit actually quite often," she told reporters Thursday. She said she discovered Islam because she kept "an open mind" and began reading the Quran six months before converting in late 1997. She changed her name after marrying Mark Freeman, a 41-year-old Winter Park native who also is known as Abdul-Maalik Freeman. A representative for one national Muslim group said Freeman was fighting for her individual right, not for Islam. Ahmed Bedier, a Tampa resident and communications director for the Florida office of the national Council on American-Islamic Relations, also said Muslims should be treated the same as Christian minorities. There they are. I knew they'd be checking in. "If certain Christians are allowed not to have their faces photographed on drivers licenses, then the Muslims should have the right to wear the veil," he said. It might come in very handy for us in... certain circumstances. And it's a nice test to see what we can possiblity get away with by using the system. Since Sept. 11, civil-rights activists have been fighting government policies that they say single out Muslims, while combating ignorance and misunderstanding of their faith. Then there is the suspicion that American Muslims say they combat daily, from job discrimination and hate crimes to name calling on school playgrounds and bad mouthing on conservative airwaves. Yeah, come and see me after we start crashing planes into Medina and Mecca. Until then, deal with it. "I think someone like Sultana Freeman really hurts our cause," Dajani said, adding that even in the most conservative of Muslim countries, women are required to show their faces for photo identifications. Zufari added that the issue especially misrepresents the role of women in Muslim society. "The face veil is a cultural practice, not a religious one," she said. "Islam is a fluid and accommodating religion — it's not meant to be a burden." Could've fooled me...

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Home Front

Islamic expert: Take off veil

2003-05-29

Before and After, courtesy The Smoking Gun Not looking good for Sultaana... A Muslim woman who refuses to unveil for a drivers license picture should do so to further the state's interest in public safety, an Islamic law expert testified at her civil trial Wednesday. Khaled Abou El Fadl, a law professor at the University of California-Los Angeles who specializes in Islam, the Middle East and human rights, said he believes Sultaana Freeman could uncover her face for a drivers license photograph because it serves a specific, limited purpose. So the state of Florida has to fly this guy in from UCLA to testify in this rinky dink trial that shouldn't even be in court? How much did that cost? When she loses, either send her or the ACLU the bill. If she's gonna have a veil over her face, why bother to take the picture? It won't show anything. Might as well just borrow one from somebody else... El Fadl, who discussed Shariah, or Islamic law and Middle Eastern customs, said there are times when veiled Muslim women uncover their faces and bodies out of necessity. Exceptions include aging women and marriage seekers and for medical reasons, voter registration, test taking, writing wills and burial. "Accordingly, she would clearly be able to show her face" for a drivers license, El Fadl said. Maybe Sultaana's like, really, really UGLY! Anybody think that might be a possibility? Maybe she just decided to quit shaving. Maybe she's not, ummm... female? How do we know she's not a cross-dresser with a moustache? Howard Marks, Freeman's attorney, sought to disqualify El Fadl as a witness and had sharp exchanges with him because he said El Fadl does not know Freeman and cannot address her deeply held conviction that she wear a veil at all times. "I don't know what motivates her," El Fadl said under oath. Maybe she's one of those "look at me" people like Pledge of Allegiance guy last year. Who's to say. But it got me a nice Florida vacation for a couple of days. Shariah doesn't take into account anybody's "deeply held convictions." If it's in the book or the hadith, you do it, otherwise they cut something off. El Fadl was one of three state witnesses who testified during the second day of Freeman's non-jury trial, which ends today in Orlando. Circuit Court Judge Janet Thorpe must decide whether law-enforcement issues outweigh personal silliness civil liberties in a contested case that is being televised nationwide on CourtTV. Hey, Sultaana! You're on CourtTV! Next come the talk shows! Under cross-examination, El Fadl said there are minority groups within Islam's two prominent sects — the Sunni and Shiites — that wear veils because of their interpretation of Islam. On Wednesday, Freeman said she is a member of the Salafiyyah group. "In the long run, his testimony supports our position that Sultaana Freeman is exercising her right to freely exercise her religion," Marks said. "I still don't think he's relevant. I wish he was, but I don't think he hurt us at all." So why'd you try to get his testimony tossed? ACLU guy knows he's dead. But he's on CourtTV! Next come the talk shows! Maybe even a book deal. "Gaming the System: How I burned Florida taxpayer dollars and got to be on the teevee"... El Fadl's testimony contradicts that of Saiful-Islam Abdul-Ahad, a U.S. Muslim convert and University of Central Florida academic adviser who testified on Freeman's behalf Tuesday. Abdul-Ahad, 54, a friend of Freeman's husband, said Freeman's interpretation of the Quran justifies her wearing a veil at all times except when facing death or danger. This is the best they got? A buddy of her husbands is an Islamic expert? Fly me down. I'll testify for her. I could use a couple of days in Florida. El Fadl has testified as an expert witness on behalf of Muslim-American women fighting for their right to wear a hijab, or head covering, at work. However, on Wednesday he said Freeman's insistence on wearing a veil was "rare." "Yep. Even in Islam, we rarely see that particulary combination of vanity and dim-bulbery... "I've never seen someone decide to wear the niqab [full-face veil] the way she claims she should," said the Kuwaiti-born naturalized U.S. citizen, who has addressed Muslim women's issues extensively in academic journals and as an imam, or religious leader, for the past 20 years in the United States. Yeah, but her guy's an academic advisor at UCF. So, there! Marks loudly protested El Fadl's description of Muslim customs in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries. "We do have a constitution here. We do have a Bill of Rights and a Florida Constitution with a Religious Freedom Restoration Act," Marks told Thorpe. I love it when ACLU lawyers, like, totally panic! Jason Vail, one of two lawyers from the Attorney General's Office representing the state, later praised El Fadl and called his 16-page curriculum vitae "impressive." "What Islamic law is all about as it relates to veiling, we've only scratched the surface," Vail said outside the courtroom. "The relationship of Islamic law to Islamic practice is a very complicated issue." "This trial could last years, burning dollars every day..." El Fadl's testimony followed that of Sandra Lambert, who oversees the highway safety agency's drivers license division. Lambert admitted that internal agency policies — not state statutes — sometimes specify requirements for obtaining a drivers license. Marks has argued that the law is vague and does not require someone to uncover their face for a photograph or prohibit people from using mustaches, beards or wigs. Or maybe they could just substitute a photo of a can of pineapple. Who'd know? "Santa Claus could come in and have a photo taken, right?" Marks remarked with sarcasm. If she wins, he'll be by for his picture. Along with the Easter Bunny and Groucho and whoever else wants to come... Lambert replied: "We don't allow costumes." To which Marks asked, "Where's that in the statutes? You don't know what's policy, and you're making this up as you go along," Marks said. If it's not written down, it's meat on the table for an ACLU lawyer. Unless it's a gun control law. Point: ACLU. "I stand by might right to wear a cape and a funny hat to have my driver's license picture taken! We have a constitution in this country, and I have a right to look like an idiot! Right this moment, I'm wearing ladies' underwear, and you can do nothing, nothing about it!" Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Col. Billy Dickson, a 39-year veteran who has worked with Lambert on a new digital drivers license database for law-enforcement agencies, argued that security concerns mandate full-face photographs that are "essential" for identification purposes."The drivers license must and should contain a photograph that gives a true representation of the person who holds that license," Dickson testified. Otherwise "this space intentionally left blank" on the license would do... According to state records, one other Florida Muslim woman was issued a state photo ID card with a veil in 2001. Like Freeman, former Jacksonville resident Mattie Glover was asked to return to a drivers license office for a new picture in 2001. She never went back, and the state also canceled her ID card. But they can't go pick it up from her, because nobody knows what she looks like, do they? I'm sure she's glued to Court TV.

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Home Front

Muslim Woman Sues to Wear Veil for License

2003-05-28

A Muslim woman suing to keep her veil on for her driver's license photo took the stand Tuesday, saying Florida's insistence on photographing her face violates her religious rights."I don't unveil ... because it would be disobeying my Lord," said Sultaana Freeman, 35. The Saudis seem to believe that the Prophet wouldn't allow women to drive. So they don't allow it. Since they seem to be the experts of all things Islam, why should this woman even need a drivers license if she's so concerned with "disobeying my lord"? If fear of disobeying her lord is her main concern, then she should not be driving. Ladies and gentleman, I rest my case... Both sides planned to call experts in Islamic law at the nonjury trial, which was to continue Wednesday. A copy of the Quran was entered into evidence. Experts in Islamic law. That should be good for a few laughs. A nonjury trial is a smart move. A jury would broom her in about five minutes. Best to go judge shopping for a good liberal who'll buy a sob story. Freeman, a convert to Islam previously known as Sandra Kellar, wore her veil for the photo on the Florida driver's license she obtained after moving to the state in 2001. Nine months later, she received a letter from the state warning that it would revoke her license unless she returned for a photo with her face uncovered. Freeman claims her religious beliefs require her to keep her head and face covered out of modesty and that her faith prohibits her face from being photographed. There's a picture of her at the link. If she drives with that thing on she might be dangerous because it looks like she'd have zero peripheral vision. Her attorneys argued that state officials didn't care that she wore a veil in the photo until after the Sept. 11 attacks, an allegation the state denies. "This is about religious liberty. It's about whether this country is going to have religious diversity," said Howard Marks, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE!!! Assistant Attorney General Jason Vail argued that having an easily identifiable photo on a driver's license is a matter of public safety. "It's the primary method of identification in Florida and the nation," Vail said. "I don't think there can be any doubt there is a public safety interest." If she wins this, the floodgates are open. The state might also want to have a look at a few passport photos from Islamic countries, to include Soddy Arabia. This gal's a publicity hound (a former evangelist who suddenly decided she was a Muslimette), and this thing has been going on for two years — either that, or she's revived the thing so she can get some more time in the papers.

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The Short Attention Span Theater

Florida Muslim woman sues

2002-01-30

A 34-year-old woman is suing the state for suspending her Florida drivers license after she refused to have her photo taken without an Islamic veil. Sultaana Freeman, a former evangelist preacher who converted to Islam about five years ago and wears the traditional niqab, says her religion doesn't allow her to show her face to strangers. "I don't show my face to strangers or unrelated males," Freeman said in an interview at the office of her American Civil Liberties Union attorney. Only her emerald-green eyes and mascara showed through her veil. Ummm... Sez right here in the state driving regulations that you can't wear a mask when getting your license picture taken. Sez right here, in the Fundo Rule Book, that women aren't allowed to drive anyway. Now, if you don't drive, and you need your license only for identification, how the hell are they supposed to identify you if they can't tell what you look like? Further proof that no IQ test is required to convert. Najat Tamim-Muhammad, 41, is battling the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles over the agency's requirement that she remove her head covering, a scarf called the "hijab," for her photograph on a state-issued identification card. State law, which also applies to driver's licenses, requires a full-face photograph. "To take it off would be the equivalent of some other woman being forced to remove her blouse," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Mr Hooper appears regularly on cable teevee news shows as a spokesman for US Muslims. Many of his statements make no sense at all. And he wears what looks like a brassiere cup on his head.

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