Judge Releases Man Jailed After Refusing to Remove Fez

Atlanta Journal Constitution ^ | 10/18/02 | Don Plummer

[Physicist]

"Ain't never gonna do it without my fez on, oh, no,
Don't make me do it without my fez on, oh, no."

[KineticKitty]

[AppyPappy]

It wasn't a problem until he parked his little car on the judge's foot.

[nothingnew]

Darn it!...ya beat me to it!...BWAHAHA!

FMCDH

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

Bey, a member of the Moorish Science Temple, had been in court Tuesday for a child support hearing. Howe told him to remove the fez for security reasons. Bey declined on religious grounds. Ordered by Howe to leave court, Bey was subsequently jailed for failing to appear when his case was called, according to his lawyer.

Can members of the KKK claim the same right to wear their hoods and robes in court?

[F.J. Mitchell]

So now the Islamites are forcing the legal system to accomodate their bizarre life styles and goofey attire. It's only a matter of time until they have this country ruled by the Quoran.

[F.J. Mitchell]

How about nudists, do they have no rights?

[KimaraChan]

Can members of the KKK claim the same right to wear their hoods and robes in court?

That's comparing apples and oranges. The KKK isn't a religion, it's a vile hate group. This is comparable to asking a christian to remove a necklace with a large cross in a courtroom, because it might be used as a makeshift weapon. Or telling a sikh that he cannot wear his little dagger, which is a necessary symbol in their religion.

Its a hat for christs sake.

[Constitution Day]

[Grut]

Silliness all around, but I suspect the Court is most at fault for not being a little more reasonable; I mean, how do we know that that nun's crucifix isn't packed with C-4?

[pgkdan]

Howe told him to remove the fez for security reasons. Bey declined on religious grounds.

Amazing!!! fathering children outside of marriage and then failing to support them is ok...but taking of that stupid little clown hat is against his religion. Aamazing.

[pgkdan]

The KKK isn't a religion, it's a vile hate group

Yeah. So's islam. What's your point?

[DonQ]

So now the Islamites are forcing the legal system to accomodate their bizarre life styles and goofey attire. It's only a matter of time until they have this country ruled by the Quoran.

Moorish Science Temple has little or nothing to do with Islam. It's a cult, about 80 years old, with similar roots to the American Black Muslim movement, whose adherents (all of them American blacks) are told that, although born here, they are not US citizens but citizens of the non-existent Moorish Nation and are immune to US laws and taxes.

Unlike a yarmalka or a skullcap, a fez has considerable space to hide a weapon. So the judge had good reason to ask that the fez be removed.

About two years ago a bunch of Moorish Temple people who were supposedly making religious-oriented visits to jail inmates were found to be smuggling drugs into the jail.

[Dialup Llama]

>Or telling a sikh that he cannot wear his little dagger, which is a necessary symbol in their religion.

That little symbolic dagger can be quite real. There is nothing preventing a muslim from temporarily removing their head covering except their determination to screw with prudential courtroom security measures.

[Dialup Llama]

>I mean, how do we know that that nun's crucifix isn't packed with C-4?

How many nuns have blown up airplanes with C4? Not all possibilities need be treated equally except by the loonitarians.

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

That's comparing apples and oranges. The KKK isn't a religion

Strictly speaking the KKK is not a religion. But this is not an apples to oranges comparison. The KKK adopted intolerance to Jews and Catholics in the early 1900's. See http://www.altered.com/dengue/kkk/history.htm for a brief history.

I see no operational difference between Muslims and the KKK. Both despise Jews and Catholics. Both use violance as a means. Both are hate groups.

[Virginia-American]

...except by the loonitarians

I don't know about that, but it sounds like something an airport screener would do.

[monday]

"The KKK isn't a religion, it's a vile hate group."

Some would say the same about Islam. Who decides which organizations are vile? You?