Posted on 03/24/2007 10:39:55 AM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
House Republicans are pushing legislation to protect airline passengers from lawsuits for reporting suspicious behavior that might be linked to a terrorist attack. Rep. Steve Pearce, New Mexico Republican, introduced the Protecting Americans Fighting Terrorism Act of 2007 on Thursday, a week after a lawsuit was filed by a group of Muslim imams who were taken off a US Airways flight in November. It is "unconscionable" that those who report suspicious activity could be "terrorized in our own court system in our own country," Mr. Pearce said on the House floor yesterday afternoon. The lawsuit asserts that the imams were discriminated against by US Airways, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission and "John Doe" passengers to be named later. A public interest law firm that fights against religious discrimination publicly condemned the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) yesterday for supporting a case it calls "legal terrorism" and said it will file a brief with the court on behalf of the passengers. "This is a first for us," Kevin Hasson, president of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, wrote in a letter to Nihad Awad, president of CAIR. "We have never opposed someone else's claim for religious discrimination. "But this tactic of threatening suit against ordinary citizens is so far beyond the tradition of civil rights litigation in the United States that we must oppose it to defend the good name of religious liberty itself," Mr. Hasson said.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
"Flyin' Imams ping!!
FReepmail me if you'd like to join this ping list.
We don't need another law. Just common sense.
Here is an article about Hasson.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/10/AR2005071000998.html
I'm not holding my breath waiting for dems to support this bill. First they'll have to ponder the question "What's in it for me?"
In lieu of sane judges, some protections needs to be in force.
You nailed it. I'm going to be paying attention to this one. No one should have to face persecution for reporting suspicious behavior. We're in a war. And no one should have to face persecution for taking prudent action in the face of bizarre behavior.
Look for the idiots at CAIR to start yowling about it being open season on innocent Muslims.
I think this bill is a great idea, and I hope it passes.
Sort of a "Stand Your Ground" law....
I think this bill is a great idea, and I hope it passes.
Indeed, the amount of screaming CAIR does about the bill will be an indication of how valuable it is. I hope CAIR is on its hands and knees wailing to the heavens like that girl in the Kent State photo.
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