The Discerning Texan

One week after being asked by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty to sign on the dotted line, the "flying imams" did just that, dismissing all claims against the unidentified passengers who reported the suspicious behavior of six imams aboard a U.S. Airways flight in November. When the attorneys for the imams included the unidentified passengers (who they listed as John Does) in the complaint, The Becket Fund demanded that the passengers be dropped from the suit and announced that it would represent for free any passengers who were identified and formally named. When the imams' attorneys pressed ahead, the Becket Fund submitted an amicus brief, asking the court to dismiss the claims, and then sent another letter with a blank notice of dismissal for the imams' attorneys to sign. Following further briefing, the imams' attorneys today relented and finally dismissed the John Does.

Their attorney said three weeks ago that he wasn’t planning to name any of them as defendants but not until today did he formally pull the plug. That’s super, but it doesn’t change the fact that we got jobbed on the “John Doe” provision. A true immunity statute would empower the court to dismiss the suit before it goes to trial; the provision we ended up with lets CAIR et al. litigate to the bitter end, with the only penalty available for a bogus claim being an award of attorney’s fees. That’s an exceptionally weak deterrent given the willingness and financial ability of certain Islamist elements to sue their critics into silence. Remember, according to the Wash Times, the lion’s share of CAIR’s $3 million budget comes from just two dozen or so donors; obviously someone has the wherewithal to advance their agenda, and thanks to the “John Doe” flaw, they’ll have every opportunity. In all likelihood it’s the bad publicity the imams have gotten over this incident, not the law, that led them to cut their losses this time.

Labels: Air Travel, CAIR, Homegrown Jihad, Islamic Fascism