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To: muawiyah
Still, the whole darned place has to go on the list. You know we Americans simply cannot tolerate countries that punish people for speech, particularly truthful speech. The AU federal government is going to have to take that judge and toss him in the drink for any of us to believe it's safe anywhere there.

Don't blame the judge. He is upholding the law and at his level, he really does have to uphold the law as written. Constitutional concerns and common law concerns (and this case involves both) are outside his balliwick.

I expect this case will go to the Supreme Court of Victoria and if necessary to the High Court of Australia. I am 90% certain the Supreme Court will overturn this ruling, and 99% sure the High Court will on Constitutional grounds.

If this does not occur, I will be one of many agitating for the Commonwealth government to use its treaty powers to overturn this law - and I honestly don't think there will be any difficulty in persuading the government to do so.

This is a bad law - but this is a ruling in a rather low level court, with a pretty limited scope for ruling. It will be appealed - and when it reaches courts concerned with the Constitution and Common Law, I cannot see the law surviving.

18 posted on 12/17/2004 5:05:54 AM PST by naturalman1975 (Sure, give peace a chance - but si vis pacem, para bellum.)
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To: naturalman1975
Concerning "upholding the law as written", the facts of the situation simply do not match the provisions of the law even if the lawmakers had intended it to do so.

Islam is pretty open about what it teaches, and the 4 schools of interpretation are not terribly different in any case. In fact, there are numerous Islamic websites where the complete outline of their theology is laid out like a Venn Diagram ~ a task virtually impossible with any other religion! Someone well versed in the "Book of Common Prayer" might well think citing some of the better known Islamic beliefs was simply casting ridicule on the whole thing.

Seems to me the judge set this whole thing up for a big tumble when he referred to "their God Allah", rather than just to "God". Now that doesn't mean he intended to do so, but it is instructive that he ended up thinking that way after having a parade of Moslem witnesses and complainants come before him.

I still think Australia needs to be put on the State Department's restricted travel list until they figure out whether or not they want to be a free society or one which recognizes Sharia Law, like the Islamofascist state to our North we call Canukistan.

27 posted on 12/17/2004 5:31:29 AM PST by muawiyah
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