Commemorations

Before I start this post of just updates/interesting links, I want to ask anyone reading this to please hold the Iranian people and protesters in your thoughts and prayers. And I obviously must mention the passing of the King of Pop.

Also today is the 40th anniversary of Stonewall!! Democracy Now did a fantastic piece on it, the link is here.

In other interesting news, racial disparities in the treatment of Michigan and Maryland youth in schools and law enforcement are drawing national attention.

Also, the Supreme Court may be loosening the legal framework for equal education in the United States in the new Horne v Flores case. Racewire reports in more detail here.

Racewire also reported that NY Domestic Workers are organizing:

As the New York State Senate invested their considerable stock of legislative resources and wit into accomplishing such noble tasks as stealing gavels, sneaking into Capitol chambers, and going to tremendous lengths to achieve absolutely nothing during an emergency legislative session this past Tuesday, domestic workers convened at Washington Square Park to demand that legislators pass a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.

Championed as a robust national precedent to reversing the nation’s racially-charged history of excluding domestic workers from labor rights laws, the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights guarantees health care, severance pay, sick days, inclusion into the state’s collective bargaining and human rights laws, and other basic protections to New York’s domestic workers. The bill has been approved by the State Assembly but is stalled in the New York State Senate, where lawmakers are struggling to broker a power-sharing agreement in the wake of a Republican-staged coup.

All the horrible things I read on the NYT today

All sorts of new fun laws for gun-lovers in Tennessee - now you can even carry guns in public parks! That's right, let's bring death to our playgrounds. One of my favorite parts:

The new Tennessee laws also include measures that will allow permit holders to carry guns in bars and restaurants, if they are not drinking alcohol, and to carry a loaded rifle or shotgun in their vehicles if the ammunition is in the magazine but not in the chamber, although it can be in the chamber for purposes of self-defense.

Read the full article here

A new ACLU report shows that anti-Muslim extremism in our country is actually preventing Muslims from fulfilling their spiritual duty of zakat. Discriminatory statutes have shut down nine Muslim charities to date, citing concerns that these charities were funding terrorism even without proof or due process. Read the full article here.

Sotomayer is being called discriminatory for being a part of an all-female networking club because there is no place for men in the Belizean Grove club. That is the biggest crock I've heard in a while. Meanwhile, no one is concerned that top executives of Victoria's Secret, a company that uses prison labor, or other major corporations are her co-grovers. Argh. Read full article here

Music and arts education is declining in the U.S. We're headed towards standardization and mediocratization - whooooooo. Read here.

Philadelphia Cop Not Allowed to Wear a Headscarf

Found here

By STEPHEN ZOOK
Philadelphia Daily News

zooks@phillynews.com

A Muslim woman who works as a Philadelphia Police officer Wednesday lost her court fight to be allowed to wear her head scarf while on duty.

The Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that granting Kimberlie Webb an exception to a regulation banning religious symbols while in uniform would impose an "undue hardship" on the city of Philadelphia.

Webb, a Philadelphia cop since 1995, requested permission in February 2003 to wear her head scarf while on duty. She was denied that permission, and filed complaints with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

In August 2003, Webb showed up to work wearing her head scarf. When she refused to remove it, she was sent home. This was repeated on two additional days.

"There is a history of allowing palms in police cars on Palm Sunday," said Jeffrey Pollock, Webb's lawyer. "[Washington,] D.C., New York City and Chicago all allow officers to wear religious symbols.

"Why can't the Philadelphia Police make the exception?"

In October 2005, Webb brought a lawsuit against the city, claiming religious and sex discrimination.

The court's opinion said that "uniform requirements are crucial to the safety of officers (so that the public will be able to identify officers as genuine, based on their uniform appearance)."

The appeals court also declined to consider Constitutional issues brought up by Pollock. Those issues were not raised at trial, so the court did not have to consider them, according to the opinion of the three-judge panel.

A lower court already had ruled that the city would suffer undue hardship if it were required to accommodate Webb's request.

"I respect [the judges], but I'm obviously disappointed," Pollock said.

Pollock said that no decision has been made about whether to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.