|
0
Nerd-Its
|
|
current event
by Back in November six Muslim imams were removed from a US Airways flight at Minneapolis- St. Paul International Airport after being reported by other passengers as exhibiting suspicious behavior, such as switching their assigned seats to a pattern associated with the September 11 terrorist attacks, asking for seat belt extenders although not needing them, making anti-American statements, and loudly shouting "Allah" when passengers were called for boarding. In early March The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) filed a lawsuit on behalf of the six Imams accusing US Airways of racial and religious discrimination, as well as several as-yet-unidentified passengers that the suit alleges "Defendants based their actions on Plaintiffs’ race, religion, color, ethnicity, alienage, ancestry, and/or national origin," and "Defendants, with the intent to cause harm to plaintiffs’ reputation, maliciously, recklessly and without regard to their privacy and integrity, defamed and made false reports against Plaintiffs to justify their illegal action."
On March 27, in response to the pending lawsuit, U.S. House Republicans called for a procedural vote to protect public-transportation passengers from being sued if they report suspicious activity. This is the first step by Congress to protect "John Doe" airline travelers in the future as well as those already targeted in such a lawsuit.
New York Republican Rep. Peter T. King, when offering the motion said, "All of our lives changed after September 11, and one of the most important things we have done is ask local citizens to do what they can to avoid another terrorist attack, if you see something, say something. We have to stand by our people and report suspicious activity," he said. "I cannot imagine anyone would be opposed to this."
Missouri Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson opposed the motion saying, "Absolutely they should have the ability to seek redress in a court of law," and suggested that protecting passengers from a lawsuit would encourage racial profiling. The motion was passed 304 to 121, with all 121 nays cast by House Democrats.
Star This to Save in Your Profile 
Add a Comment (3)
Email This
Message Author
Statistics
Thread parent sort order:
Thread verbosity:
0 Nerd-Its
PC Bull... shizzle
I cannot believe that this is such an issue, other than the fact that some acronymed organization is involved.
Switching assigned seats to a pattern, making Anti-American statements, and loudly shouting anything (let alone 'Allah') could make Anglo McWhitey look suspect when boarding a plane. I will not deny that being Arab probably made it worse, but I will not believe that this was over the top until they send a group of Swedes to do the same thing (save switching 'Allah' with a more appropriate 'Ragnarök' or 'Valhalla') and proving that the US Air crew has no problem letting them ride.
As for the law, I do not think it should be passed. I think these lawsuits should be allowed (since profiling does exist, see below off-topic), and it is the responsibility of the courts to make it apparent that such ridiculous lawsuits will go no where. Once the failure of such useless suits becomes the stare decisis, they will stop being pressed.
0 Nerd-Its
UPDATE on Flying Imam's Lawsuit Plans
"A group of imams suing US Airways for discrimination amended their lawsuit this week to target only the "John Doe" passengers who they say are racist and falsely accused them of behaving suspiciously. "
"The amended lawsuit identifies possible John Does as individuals who 'may have made false reports against plaintiffs solely with the intent to discriminate against them on the basis of their race, religion, ethnicity and national origin.'"
And how in the hell do they determine that?!?
RSS
Finally some sanity! by Anonymous :: NR0 :: Show
Congress has finally stood up to those who are trying to undermind America's Freedom.