Tuesday August 3, 2010

I've Been Thinking:

Can prison authorities prohibit the wearing of a Muslim head scarf? A United States court has just come out with a ruling.

The argument is pretty straightforward.

Under normal circumstances, this would b a freedom of religion issue and there should be no question but that this is an open and shut issue. But these are not normal circumstances, this is a question of security.

Prison needs to maintain safety. The head scarf is a perfect place to conceal weapons. The head scarf can be used as a weapon to strangle someone. So the court sided against freedom of religion and came out in favor of security and safety.

One of the most important lessons to be learned here is that even constitutional rights, assumed to be inalienable, have their limitations when it comes to safety.

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