Muslim Woman Sues Jail Over Being Forced To Attend Christian Church Services
During her 60-day jail term on assault charges in Cleveland, she says she was forced to attend Christian church services.
Sakeena Majeed said in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that a correction officer made her and other Cuyahoga County jail inmates attend Friday afternoon services led by a Baptist minister. She alleged that she was threatened with solitary confinement if she did not attend and that another correction officer mocked her when she refused to actively participate.
“That should be offensive to anybody, no matter what your religion is,” said her attorney Matthew Besser, who filed the lawsuit. “The government can’t tell you what god to pray to or to pray at all.”
Majeed’s lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. A county prosecutor’s spokesman, Joe Frolik, declined to comment about it on Friday.[su_center_ad]
Guy Lauten December 20th, 2014 at 4:12 pm
“Repent or die!”
Getting close, now isn’t it?
“Nobody expected the Spanish Inquisition!”
Jones December 20th, 2014 at 4:22 pm
Good for her and religious freedom, I hope she wins and the damages are reasonable enough that it doesn’t come across as being motivated by money.
infectious_d December 20th, 2014 at 4:25 pm
lol separation of church and state is lost on many people…the fact that a church of any type is attached to any incarceration facility is a clear violation of that…but to force someone to attend is definitely crossing the line
yeah god’s good n’ all, but everyone’s got a right to worship whoever and however they want, hopefully the case goes in her favor, since it’s practically an open-shut case
Eric Trommater December 20th, 2014 at 5:22 pm
If I ever become Emperor or Czar the first thing I will do is eliminate the difference between religious speech and any other form of expression. They are just words. It’s not like they have some magic power over other words. Worship as you please but don’t tell me listening to someone else’s worship somehow hurts your ability to worship.
tiredoftea December 20th, 2014 at 4:42 pm
The First Amendment is only for preventing other religions from taking hold here in the good old christian U.S. of A.!! The founders told us so.
Eric Trommater December 20th, 2014 at 4:51 pm
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/58/5f/dd/585fdd7be1474cef7ffaefb4f90ccc32.jpg
tiredoftea December 20th, 2014 at 4:54 pm
I nominate you for posting the most insightful comment of all time!
Damn you! You changed it!
Dwendt44 December 20th, 2014 at 8:17 pm
It’s hard to top Betty.
Eric Trommater December 20th, 2014 at 4:44 pm
Maybe it’s because I’m not particularly religious but I really don’t see what harm came to this woman. Simply having to sit through a religious ceremony for a faith that you don’t share is a quite common experience. If a Christian was forced to sit through a Muslim ceremony or a Buddhist through a Shinto one I doubt very highly they would come out worse for wear. My brother was a committed atheist whose writings on the subject were widely read. He was given a Christian funeral at the insistence of his fiance’s family and I had no problem with it because I figured to wouldn’t hurt anybody. Freedom of religion is not the same as freedom from religion.
tiredoftea December 20th, 2014 at 4:51 pm
“Freedom of religion is not the same as freedom from religion.” It is when it is imposed on people who have no choice in the matter, as is the case here.
BTW, why was the prison holding Baptist services to begin with?
Eric Trommater December 20th, 2014 at 5:09 pm
I would not be surprised if they had all manner of superstition nonsense going on those places I just don’t see what harm it does. It’s not like Baptist have the power to cast magic spells. The prisoner was merely made to listen to some thing she didn’t want to hear. Guess what, I do that everyday.
tiredoftea December 20th, 2014 at 5:55 pm
So, here’s the harm, it’s a direct violation of the First Amendment! That’s more than enough for me to stop the practice.
Anomaly 100 December 20th, 2014 at 5:59 pm
I’m a Christian and I’m quite sure even my pastor would agree that this is outrageous. One should never be ‘forced’ to attend services especially if it’s not your faith.
tracey marie December 20th, 2014 at 6:06 pm
I woulod sue if I was forced to listen to any of this nonsense
Angelo_Frank December 20th, 2014 at 7:46 pm
Good for you Eric. Now take a course on our Constitution so you can see where you are wrong.
Eric Trommater December 20th, 2014 at 9:04 pm
Wrong? This is not a matter of right and wrong. It’s a matter of interpretation where people can be right about the facts and still disagree. I love how The Constitution has come to mean “anything I disagree with is wrong and anyone who disagrees with me doesn’t understand.” It’s an absolutely puerile form of argument and the main reason why this country has so much gridlock.
My interpretation of the Establishment Clause is different from yours but neither one of us is wrong we merely interpret it differently.
This is not a cut and dried violation of anyone’s rights any more than the government regularly placing drunk drivers into mandatory AA 12 step programs that are religiously based. No one is forcing religious beliefs on this prisoner, they are merely making her sit through a service. To interpret that as somehow promoting one religion over another or cruel and unusual punishment and outlawed by the first and eighth amendments is a very esoteric view of the rule of law in my opinion. To interpret it in this manner would open a whole can of worms when it comes to things like our public school system teaching science or history which runs counter to some people’s beliefs. I don’t think you would want to live in a society with such so-called freedom. Her right to worship was not violated. No one took anything away from her. She is suing for damages but how was she damaged? What harm came to her?
Dwendt44 December 21st, 2014 at 12:55 am
And a person who is sentenced to AA meetings can also refuse as that too is imposing religion on someone. Most wouldn’t bother, but they can refuse and ask for an alternative.
Dwendt44 December 20th, 2014 at 8:15 pm
“Freedom of religion is not the same as freedom from religion.”
Not true. They are two sides of the same coin. You can’t have one without the other. Even forcing a christian to attend church services if he doesn’t want to is totally wrong. Since the jail and prison are government property, the clergy serve there as a benefit for those inmates that WANT to attend such services. I do note that the vast majority of inmates are christian anyway.
Angelo_Frank December 20th, 2014 at 7:45 pm
This is the United Stats of America Eric. We don’t don’t force our belief systems on to others who aren’t willing to accept them. Did you skip civics lessons in high school?