Re: Minneapolis Taxicab Controversy

2012-03-14 Thread Marty Lederman
Thanks, Marie.  Does anyone have a copy of the fatwa, or the alternative
interpretations?

On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 12:05 PM, Marie A. Failinger <
mfailin...@gw.hamline.edu> wrote:

>  Here is what I have learned about the Minneapolis cab controversy.
> According to the civil rights leader I spoke with, the controversy started
> because of the fatwa referred to below. After it came out and cabdrivers
> began to follow it, other imams in the Twin Cities came out with opinions
> indicating that it was not forbidden to carry passengers with
> alcohol.  (Sounds like a federal court split-in-circuits type dustup:)
>  Most of the cab drivers followed the other imams' opinions and kept
> working under the MAC "must carry" rules.  The leader said that she had not
> recently heard anything regarding the legal action.
>
>
>  Marie A. Failinger
>
> Professor of Law
> Editor, Journal of Law and Religion
> Hamline University School of Law
> 1536 Hewitt Avenue
> Saint Paul, MN 55104 U.S.A.
> 651-523-2124 (work phone)
> 651-523-2236 (work fax)
> mfailin...@hamline.edu (email)
>
>
> >>> "Marie A. Failinger"  3/8/2012 9:17 AM >>>
>  Marty, the fatwa is described in the following Star Tribune article,
> http://www.startribune.com/local/11586646.html (which also reports one
> local well-respected imam's opinion that carrying a disability service dog
> should not pose a problem for Muslim cabdrivers.)
>
>  Marie A. Failinger
>
> ___
> To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see
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> wrongly) forward the messages to others.
>
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Re: Minneapolis Taxicab Controversy

2012-03-12 Thread Alan Hurst
Congratulations! I got the paper off SSRN and enjoyed it, and I'm glad
to hear it will be in print soon.

Alan

On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 12:15 PM, Sisk, Gregory C.  wrote:
> Thanks very much!  This is good to know.  Our piece on Muslim religious 
> liberty in the federal courts was accepted at the Iowa Law Review on Friday, 
> so it has a home now.
>
> Greg
>
> 
> From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] 
> on behalf of Marie A. Failinger [mfailin...@gw.hamline.edu]
> Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 11:05 AM
> To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics
> Subject: Re: Minneapolis Taxicab Controversy
>
> Here is what I have learned about the Minneapolis cab controversy.  According 
> to the civil rights leader I spoke with, the controversy started because of 
> the fatwa referred to below. After it came out and cabdrivers began to follow 
> it, other imams in the Twin Cities came out with opinions indicating that it 
> was not forbidden to carry passengers with alcohol.  (Sounds like a federal 
> court split-in-circuits type dustup:)   Most of the cab drivers followed the 
> other imams' opinions and kept working under the MAC "must carry" rules.  The 
> leader said that she had not recently heard anything regarding the legal 
> action.
>
>
> Marie A. Failinger
>
> Professor of Law
> Editor, Journal of Law and Religion
> Hamline University School of Law
> 1536 Hewitt Avenue
> Saint Paul, MN 55104 U.S.A.
> 651-523-2124 (work phone)
> 651-523-2236 (work fax)
> mfailin...@hamline.edu (email)
>
>
>>>> "Marie A. Failinger"  3/8/2012 9:17 AM >>>
> Marty, the fatwa is described in the following Star Tribune article, 
> http://www.startribune.com/local/11586646.html (which also reports one local 
> well-respected imam's opinion that carrying a disability service dog should 
> not pose a problem for Muslim cabdrivers.)
>
> Marie A. Failinger
> ___
> To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see 
> http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw
>
> Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as 
> private.  Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; 
> people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) 
> forward the messages to others.
___
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Re: Minneapolis Taxicab Controversy

2012-03-12 Thread Marie A. Failinger
Here is what I have learned about the Minneapolis cab controversy.  According 
to the civil rights leader I spoke with, the controversy started because of the 
fatwa referred to below. After it came out and cabdrivers began to follow it, 
other imams in the Twin Cities came out with opinions indicating that it was 
not forbidden to carry passengers with alcohol.  (Sounds like a federal court 
split-in-circuits type dustup:)   Most of the cab drivers followed the other 
imams' opinions and kept working under the MAC "must carry" rules.  The leader 
said that she had not recently heard anything regarding the legal action.

 
Marie A. Failinger

Professor of Law
Editor, Journal of Law and Religion
Hamline University School of Law
1536 Hewitt Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55104 U.S.A.
651-523-2124 (work phone)
651-523-2236 (work fax)
mfailin...@hamline.edu (email)


>>> "Marie A. Failinger"  3/8/2012 9:17 AM >>>
Marty, the fatwa is described in the following Star Tribune article, 
http://www.startribune.com/local/11586646.html (which also reports one local 
well-respected imam's opinion that carrying a disability service dog should not 
pose a problem for Muslim cabdrivers.)
 
Marie A. Failinger
___
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RE: Minneapolis Taxicab Controversy

2012-03-12 Thread Marie A. Failinger
Great placement!  I look forward to it.  

 
Marie A. Failinger

Professor of Law
Editor, Journal of Law and Religion
Hamline University School of Law
1536 Hewitt Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55104 U.S.A.
651-523-2124 (work phone)
651-523-2236 (work fax)
mfailin...@hamline.edu (email)


>>> "Sisk, Gregory C."  3/12/2012 11:15 AM >>>
Thanks very much!  This is good to know.  Our piece on Muslim religious liberty 
in the federal courts was accepted at the Iowa Law Review on Friday, so it has 
a home now.

Greg


From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] 
on behalf of Marie A. Failinger [mfailin...@gw.hamline.edu]
Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 11:05 AM
To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics
Subject: Re: Minneapolis Taxicab Controversy

Here is what I have learned about the Minneapolis cab controversy.  According 
to the civil rights leader I spoke with, the controversy started because of the 
fatwa referred to below. After it came out and cabdrivers began to follow it, 
other imams in the Twin Cities came out with opinions indicating that it was 
not forbidden to carry passengers with alcohol.  (Sounds like a federal court 
split-in-circuits type dustup:)   Most of the cab drivers followed the other 
imams' opinions and kept working under the MAC "must carry" rules.  The leader 
said that she had not recently heard anything regarding the legal action.


Marie A. Failinger

Professor of Law
Editor, Journal of Law and Religion
Hamline University School of Law
1536 Hewitt Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55104 U.S.A.
651-523-2124 (work phone)
651-523-2236 (work fax)
mfailin...@hamline.edu (email)


>>> "Marie A. Failinger"  3/8/2012 9:17 AM >>>
Marty, the fatwa is described in the following Star Tribune article, 
http://www.startribune.com/local/11586646.html (which also reports one local 
well-respected imam's opinion that carrying a disability service dog should not 
pose a problem for Muslim cabdrivers.)

Marie A. Failinger
___
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RE: Minneapolis Taxicab Controversy

2012-03-12 Thread Sisk, Gregory C.
Thanks very much!  This is good to know.  Our piece on Muslim religious liberty 
in the federal courts was accepted at the Iowa Law Review on Friday, so it has 
a home now.

Greg


From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] 
on behalf of Marie A. Failinger [mfailin...@gw.hamline.edu]
Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 11:05 AM
To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics
Subject: Re: Minneapolis Taxicab Controversy

Here is what I have learned about the Minneapolis cab controversy.  According 
to the civil rights leader I spoke with, the controversy started because of the 
fatwa referred to below. After it came out and cabdrivers began to follow it, 
other imams in the Twin Cities came out with opinions indicating that it was 
not forbidden to carry passengers with alcohol.  (Sounds like a federal court 
split-in-circuits type dustup:)   Most of the cab drivers followed the other 
imams' opinions and kept working under the MAC "must carry" rules.  The leader 
said that she had not recently heard anything regarding the legal action.


Marie A. Failinger

Professor of Law
Editor, Journal of Law and Religion
Hamline University School of Law
1536 Hewitt Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55104 U.S.A.
651-523-2124 (work phone)
651-523-2236 (work fax)
mfailin...@hamline.edu (email)


>>> "Marie A. Failinger"  3/8/2012 9:17 AM >>>
Marty, the fatwa is described in the following Star Tribune article, 
http://www.startribune.com/local/11586646.html (which also reports one local 
well-respected imam's opinion that carrying a disability service dog should not 
pose a problem for Muslim cabdrivers.)

Marie A. Failinger
___
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To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see 
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Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can 
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Re: Minneapolis Taxicab Controversy

2012-03-08 Thread Marie A. Failinger
Marty, the fatwa is described in the following Star Tribune article, 
http://www.startribune.com/local/11586646.html (which also reports one local 
well-respected imam's opinion that carrying a disability service dog should not 
pose a problem for Muslim cabdrivers.)
 
The airport ordinance can be found on the Twin Cities Metropolitan Airports 
Commission website.
 
I am trying to investigate the fallout issue with a local Muslim civil rights 
leader and will report back if I get any info.
 
In fact, if anyone is interested in investigating the extreme nature of some 
opinions about Muslims in the U.S., I would suggest that you Google this issue 
and read some of the non-news postings.  

 
Marie A. Failinger

Professor of Law
Editor, Journal of Law and Religion
Hamline University School of Law
1536 Hewitt Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55104 U.S.A.
651-523-2124 (work phone)
651-523-2236 (work fax)
mfailin...@hamline.edu (email)


>>> Marty Lederman  3/8/2012 5:29 AM >>>
Thanks very much, Marie. Is any or all of this documented somewhere, in 
addition to the state court of appeals case?

On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 12:31 PM, Marie A. Failinger  
wrote:


Just to add to my previous post in response to Marty's questions:
1. Not all of the Muslim cabbies felt religiously obliged to refuse to carry 
passengers with open displays of al to the cohol (or dogs) as I remember. 
However, there was a fatwa issued by a local Muslim organization saying that 
they shouldn't do it. Since a fatwa is a legal opinion, it certainly provides 
legal authority for the cabbies' insistence that they shouldn't do it; it 
wasn't simply their personal view per se.
2. Airport regulation 102 now provides that taxi drivers cannot refuse to take 
a passenger unless he refuses to pay, is seriously intoxicated or is a physical 
threat. One provision of the section also prohibits drivers from refusing 
service based on race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, marital 
status, disability, sexual orientation, or age, or having a service dog. 
3. The cabbies' appeal for an injunction was denied by the trial court and 
upheld by Minnesota Court of Appeals in 2008 on the basis that they had an 
adequate remedy at law--any license denial could be appealed and the cabbie 
could keep his license in the meantime. Dolal v. Metropolitan Airports Com'n, 
2008 WL 4133517
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/09/09/muslim_cabs_court/
I couldn't find much recently about the effect on Muslims serving the airport 
except this related news, in January, a major airport taxi company here fired 
Somali drivers who protested the refusal of the company to sit down and 
negotiate their working conditions 
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/news_cut/archive/2012/01/report_somali_cabbies_learn_pr.shtml

Marie A. Failinger

Professor of Law
Editor, Journal of Law and Religion
Hamline University School of Law
1536 Hewitt Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55104 U.S.A.
651-523-2124 ( tel:651-523-2124 ) (work phone)
651-523-2236 ( tel:651-523-2236 ) (work fax)
mfailin...@hamline.edu (email)


>>> Marty Lederman  3/7/2012 5:35 AM >>>
Can anyone point me to a good, thorough account of what happened in 
Minneapolis, including (i) the explanations, if any, the cabbies offered for 
why the lack of the exemption burdened their religious exercise (did it mean 
they were unable to accept work as other forms of common carriers, such as 
pilots, UPS/FedEx delivery employees, bus drivers, etc.?); (ii) how the 
controversy was resolved as a matter of law; and (iii) what became of the 
Muslim drivers after the exemption was revoked.

Thanks in advance.

___
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Re: Minneapolis Taxicab Controversy

2012-03-08 Thread Marty Lederman
Thanks very much, Marie.  Is any or all of this documented somewhere, in
addition to the state court of appeals case?

On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 12:31 PM, Marie A. Failinger <
mfailin...@gw.hamline.edu> wrote:

>  Just to add to my previous post in response to Marty's questions:
>
> 1.  Not all of the Muslim cabbies felt religiously obliged to refuse to
> carry passengers with open displays of al to the cohol (or dogs) as I
> remember. However, there was a fatwa issued by a local Muslim organization
> saying that they shouldn't do it.  Since a fatwa is a legal opinion, it
> certainly provides legal authority for the cabbies' insistence that they
> shouldn't do it; it wasn't simply their personal view per se.
>
> 2.  Airport regulation 102 now provides that taxi drivers cannot refuse to
> take a passenger unless he refuses to pay, is seriously intoxicated or is a
> physical threat.  One provision of the section also prohibits drivers from
> refusing service based on race, gender, religion, national origin,
> ethnicity, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, or age, or
> having a service dog.
>
> 3.  The cabbies' appeal for an injunction was denied by the trial court
> and upheld by Minnesota Court of Appeals in 2008 on the basis that they had
> an adequate remedy at law--any license denial could be appealed and the
> cabbie could keep his license in the meantime.  Dolal v. Metropolitan
> Airports Com'n, 2008 WL 4133517
>
> http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/09/09/muslim_cabs_court/
>
> I couldn't find much recently about the effect on Muslims serving the
> airport except this related news, in January, a major airport taxi company
> here fired Somali drivers who protested the refusal of the company to sit
> down and negotiate their working conditions
> http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/news_cut/archive/2012/01/report_somali_cabbies_learn_pr.shtml
>
>
>  Marie A. Failinger
>
> Professor of Law
> Editor, Journal of Law and Religion
> Hamline University School of Law
> 1536 Hewitt Avenue
> Saint Paul, MN 55104 U.S.A.
> 651-523-2124 (work phone)
> 651-523-2236 (work fax)
> mfailin...@hamline.edu (email)
>
>
> >>> Marty Lederman  3/7/2012 5:35 AM >>>
>
> Can anyone point me to a good, thorough account of what happened in
> Minneapolis, including (i) the explanations, if any, the cabbies offered
> for why the lack of the exemption burdened their religious exercise (did it
> mean they were unable to accept work as other forms of common carriers,
> such as pilots, UPS/FedEx delivery employees, bus drivers, etc.?); (ii) how
> the controversy was resolved as a matter of law; and (iii) what became of
> the Muslim drivers after the exemption was revoked.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> ___
> To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see
> http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw
>
> Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as
> private.  Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are
> posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or
> wrongly) forward the messages to others.
>
___
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Re: Minneapolis Taxicab Controversy

2012-03-07 Thread Marie A. Failinger
Just to add to my previous post in response to Marty's questions:
 
1.  Not all of the Muslim cabbies felt religiously obliged to refuse to carry 
passengers with open displays of alcohol (or dogs) as I remember. However, 
there was a fatwa issued by a local Muslim organization saying that they 
shouldn't do it.  Since a fatwa is a legal opinion, it certainly provides legal 
authority for the cabbies' insistence that they shouldn't do it; it wasn't 
simply their personal view per se.
 
2.  Airport regulation 102 now provides that taxi drivers cannot refuse to take 
a passenger unless he refuses to pay, is seriously intoxicated or is a physical 
threat.  One provision of the section also prohibits drivers from refusing 
service based on race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, marital 
status, disability, sexual orientation, or age, or having a service dog. 
 
3.  The cabbies' appeal for an injunction was denied by the trial court and 
upheld by Minnesota Court of Appeals in 2008 on the basis that they had an 
adequate remedy at law--any license denial could be appealed and the cabbie 
could keep his license in the meantime.  Dolal v. Metropolitan Airports Com'n, 
2008 WL 4133517
  http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/09/09/muslim_cabs_court/
 
I couldn't find much recently about the effect on Muslims serving the airport 
except this related news, in January, a major airport taxi company here fired 
Somali drivers who protested the refusal of the company to sit down and 
negotiate their working conditions 
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/news_cut/archive/2012/01/report_somali_cabbies_learn_pr.shtml

 
Marie A. Failinger

Professor of Law
Editor, Journal of Law and Religion
Hamline University School of Law
1536 Hewitt Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55104 U.S.A.
651-523-2124 (work phone)
651-523-2236 (work fax)
mfailin...@hamline.edu (email)


>>> Marty Lederman  3/7/2012 5:35 AM >>>
Can anyone point me to a good, thorough account of what happened in 
Minneapolis, including (i) the explanations, if any, the cabbies offered for 
why the lack of the exemption burdened their religious exercise (did it mean 
they were unable to accept work as other forms of common carriers, such as 
pilots, UPS/FedEx delivery employees, bus drivers, etc.?); (ii) how the 
controversy was resolved as a matter of law; and (iii) what became of the 
Muslim drivers after the exemption was revoked.

Thanks in advance.
___
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Minneapolis Taxicab Controversy

2012-03-07 Thread Marty Lederman
Can anyone point me to a good, thorough account of what happened in
Minneapolis, including (i) the explanations, if any, the cabbies offered
for why the lack of the exemption burdened their religious exercise (did it
mean they were unable to accept work as other forms of common carriers,
such as pilots, UPS/FedEx delivery employees, bus drivers, etc.?); (ii) how
the controversy was resolved as a matter of law; and (iii) what became of
the Muslim drivers after the exemption was revoked.

Thanks in advance.
___
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