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Judge Releases Man Jailed After Refusing to Remove Fez
Atlanta Journal Constitution ^ | 10/18/02 | Don Plummer

Posted on 10/18/2002 10:45:50 AM PDT by marshmallow

An Austell man who refused to remove his fez in court was released Thursday after two days in jail.

Richard Morris Haines Bey was released by Douglas County Superior Court Judge Donald Howe after the American Civil Liberties Union lodged a challenge.

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.

Kathryn Jaconetti, Bey's lawyer, gave this version of events about her client: Bey left the courtroom after the judge told him to leave or remove his fez.

Bey was standing outside the courtroom visible through a window when his case was called. Bey still refused to enter the courtroom without his fez.

Douglas Assistant District Attorney Lee O'Brien, who was handling the child support case and who said he was unaware that Bey had been asked to leave the courtroom, then asked the judge to issue a bench warrant for Bey's arrest. Howe complied and Bey was brought into the courtroom handcuffed. Told by Howe to remove his fez or go to jail, Bey again refused and was taken to jail.

A representative of Bey's temple sat in court Thursday wearing a red fez with a black tassel. Rashim Barael Bey, chairman of the 18-member First Afro-Centric Temple in Atlanta, was not challenged by Howe.

"I came today to lend support to a brother falsely imprisoned because of our way of life," said Bey, who is not related to Richard Bey. Members of the Moorish Science Temple of America must cover their heads when away from home, he said.

"It is a symbol given to us by the prophet to show our obedience to God," Bey said. "It represents the crown of stars we will receive in Heaven."

The Moorish Science Temple of America, which has headquarters in Baltimore, was founded by a black man from North Carolina named Timothy Drew who believed black people were descendants of the ancient Moabites and that their homeland was Morocco, according to the Encyclopedia of American Religions. The church teaches that only Islam can unite the black man and that Moorish Americans must be united under Allah and his holy prophet.

Islamic religious attire sometimes causes conflict in legal settings, according to a spokeswoman with the Council on American-Islamic Relations. But, problems have mostly been limited to court or jail employees whose apparel ran afoul of dress codes or prison visitors who have been required to remove scarves and headdresses for security screening, said Hodan Hassan.

"This would seem to be a rare occurrence," Hassan said.

Jaconetti said Bey's family is considering filing a civil rights lawsuit against Howe and O'Brien.

O'Brien said Thursday that he was not involved in the interaction between Howe and Bey. "It is up to the judge how he handles decorum in his court," O'Brien said. "People routinely are asked to remove their hats."

O'Brien said he didn't remember if the judge told Bey to remove the hat or go to jail.

"I was aware that there was some colloquy between the judge and some man, but I didn't even know that was the defendant in my child support case."

Howe did not mention the fez incident Thursday when he granted Bey bond over O'Brien's objection. Howe set another hearing on Bey's child support charges for next month. A woman who answered the phone in Howe's office said the judge had instructed her to tell reporters that he would not speak about the incident


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1 posted on 10/18/2002 10:45:50 AM PDT by marshmallow
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To: marshmallow
"Ain't never gonna do it without my fez on, oh, no,
Don't make me do it without my fez on, oh, no."
2 posted on 10/18/2002 10:48:31 AM PDT by Physicist
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To: marshmallow

3 posted on 10/18/2002 10:51:46 AM PDT by KineticKitty
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To: marshmallow
It wasn't a problem until he parked his little car on the judge's foot.
4 posted on 10/18/2002 10:54:03 AM PDT by AppyPappy
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To: Physicist
Darn it!...ya beat me to it!...BWAHAHA!

FMCDH

5 posted on 10/18/2002 10:55:30 AM PDT by nothingnew
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To: marshmallow
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?

6 posted on 10/18/2002 10:58:38 AM PDT by LoneRangerMassachusetts
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To: marshmallow
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.
7 posted on 10/18/2002 11:00:40 AM PDT by F.J. Mitchell
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To: LoneRangerMassachusetts
How about nudists, do they have no rights?
8 posted on 10/18/2002 11:02:36 AM PDT by F.J. Mitchell
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To: LoneRangerMassachusetts
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.
9 posted on 10/18/2002 11:05:29 AM PDT by KimaraChan
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To: marshmallow

10 posted on 10/18/2002 11:09:14 AM PDT by Constitution Day
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To: marshmallow
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?
11 posted on 10/18/2002 11:10:24 AM PDT by Grut
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To: marshmallow
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.

12 posted on 10/18/2002 11:12:13 AM PDT by pgkdan
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To: KimaraChan
The KKK isn't a religion, it's a vile hate group

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

13 posted on 10/18/2002 11:13:40 AM PDT by pgkdan
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Comment #14 Removed by Moderator

To: 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.

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.

15 posted on 10/18/2002 11:16:21 AM PDT by DonQ
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To: KimaraChan
>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.

16 posted on 10/18/2002 11:19:35 AM PDT by Dialup Llama
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To: Grut
>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.

17 posted on 10/18/2002 11:26:55 AM PDT by Dialup Llama
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To: KimaraChan
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.

18 posted on 10/18/2002 11:35:19 AM PDT by LoneRangerMassachusetts
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To: Dialup Llama
...except by the loonitarians

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

19 posted on 10/18/2002 11:35:52 AM PDT by Virginia-American
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To: KimaraChan
"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?

20 posted on 10/18/2002 1:09:11 PM PDT by monday
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