At the Pike County Justice Court in Mississippi, Judge Aubrey Rimes expelled Mr. Jageet Singh from the courtroom, telling his attorney that he’d better remove “that rag” (his turban) from his head or go to jail.
That sounds bad enough, right? But how’d he get into the courtroom to begin with? The ACLU with the details:
Today, in a letter to the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT), the ACLU and United Sikhs called on state officials to investigate the harassment of a Sikh commercial truck driver pulled over early this year for a flat tire. After detaining Mr. Jageet Singh in January as he passed through Mississippi, the officers called him a “terrorist” and harassed and humiliated him because of his appearance and religious beliefs. As a devout Sikh, Mr. Singh wears a turban and carries a kirpan. A kirpan is a small, spiritual sword that is sheathed and sewn to the waistband. It is designed and worn as an article of faith, much as a cross is worn by devout Christians.
Contending, wrongly, that his kirpan was illegal, the officers demanded that Mr. Singh remove it. When Mr. Singh explained that he was a Sikh and that the kirpan was a sacred religious article, the officers laughed at him and mocked his religious beliefs. One officer declared that all Sikhs are “depraved” and “terrorists.” They continued to taunt him, and forced Mr. Singh to circle his truck with his hands on his turban while they searched the vehicle. Finally, not content with this humiliation, they arrested him, claiming that Mr. Singh had refused to obey an officer’s lawful command.
Emphasis mine.
I’m guessing the cops and the judge mistook Mr. Singh for a Muslim? Anyways, it doesn’t matter. He looks funny and, plus, 9/11 happened so we get to harass and humiliate anyone we feel like calling a “terrorist.”
United Sikhs is also representing Mr. Singh. Here is an excerpt from their “Right to Turban” page:
Since September 11, the world has been gripped by fear such that many minority communities, including the Sikh community, have suffered a backlash through mis-information and ignorance. The first reprisal killing after Sept 11 was of a Turban wearing Sikh in Arizona, who was mistaken as belonging to the group which perpetrated the 9/11 incident. Sikhs due to their unique appearance have since been a target of hate and bias crime and discrimination. Every week, UNITED SIKHS receives reports from Sikh adults and children who are victims of race/biased/hate crimes and from those being denied their rights to practice their religion. A Sikh’s right to wear his articles of faith has been challenged in schools, the workplace, Prisons and other public places. Sikhs suffer increased harassment at airports because they wear the Turban. UNITED SIKHS provides advice, counsel and legal representation to those whose legal rights are being denied by errant and mis-informed authorities and the public. A critical aspect of UNITED SIKHS’ advocacy work is to create an awareness of the issues amongst authorities and the public through talks, seminars and multifaith events.
Sikhs belong in Punjab, not the United States.
Please don't breed. The thought of your ignorance passing on to another human being is a terrifying thought. If you already do have children, I feel sorry for them.
They do breed, well. That's where 'dickhead' comes from.
What doesn't belong in the United States are disgusting "judges" and bluecoats. In any normal society these would be run out of town on a rail.
Also, Sikhs have an illustrious history fighting for Whitey:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikh_Regiment
He's right, Sikhs do not below here. In the US and all across Europe whites are giving up their culture, languages, territory and doing this with nary a whimper of protest. When one utter a bit of protest, he is immediately accused of "racism" and bigotry. All these non whites pouring In to white nations still have their home countries in tact. While we whites have no place to go home to. This is our home, Once we give it up to the invaders we are lost and dying as a race. Why are there so many white people who can not understand this simple fact?
Take up your cause with the CIA and the Western Secret Services. If they would stop with the constant ferment and misery that they encourage in almost all nations in the world , other than white folks would stay and fix their own countries and not try to be your neighbor and you can have a culture as white as the driven snow without any ploar bear shite in it.
May be because most white people know that west European whites have colonized (that is, exterminated native population, and/or subjugated them) many places on earth. So, starting from Europe, whites have taken over the entire North American continent, the contintnet of Australia, ruled over South Africa and many African nations for centuries, ruled over India and many other Asian countries for centuries, dismembered China by forcing them into opium trade, and them occupied chunks of their land. Hong Kong was just recently turned back to China. Not to mention the glorious attempt at creating more "elbow room" to the east at the expense of Slavic population, and just in the last glorious war over 20 milion of Russian people died before they at the ruins of Berlin put an end to that exceptionalist project.
Now, that the occupied, displaced, economically ruined, and war devastated nations are shedding their population as they run to their glorious protectors — it is a problem. Would have been much nicer to let them live their lives and try to help them out of their gold, oil, and diamonds. Then they will not be so enlightened as to want to come to us.
Who are you to decide who "belongs" here, or not? The same was said of Italians, Jews, Irish, Catholics, Mexicans, et al. Lots of Jews wear Yarmulkes. Try saying the same thing about them and see what happens. Or, how about those AMISH 'fanatics' who wear their "funny hats?" Cretins like you need to be neutered.
You belong in an insane asylum for bigots.
M-i-s-s-i-p-p-i-!
this is a response to all posts:
If I can't wear a hat in the courtroom, then Sikhs have no business wearing turbins. I am sick & tired of people using their faiths as a defense to wear something which is not allowed in a courtroom, or work place environment.
It's 'turban' not 'turbin'.
A question for you – what would you say to a judge who ordered a nun to 'remove her stupid outfit or go to jail'?
You should leave too. I am for a tight immigration policy, but you are just a bigot.
I bet you were for all those useless wars that bankrupted the US. We would be better of if you left.
Bigots belong in Hell, not on Earth.
as they will be, don't worry.
Last time I checked Sikhs were not trying to take over the world, and they're really respectful and respectable people. I hold them on a par with the older generation of Poles, very sociable, open, honest, trustworthy, honourable and mutually accepting of all other faiths and denominations. I only wish the same could be said of those masquerading as upholders of the law, and 'some individuals'. Here we have police AND judge breaking the law and being racist with impunity, please, be open and honest if you agree with that, I'd like to hear your justification.
Check again I've seen sites that show Sikhs terroist groups. There is even Amish Mafia. If you only allowed to carry a 3.5 to 4 inch blade and your caught with one that is 6 to 9 inches long then its illegal.
Judge Aubrey Rimes should take off his white sheets and calmly join the 21st century. However this is Mississippi and on any number of issues, they are seriously stuck in the mud of a carpetbagger South.
Don, the people of Mississippi should force him to resign or else impeach him. If during his tenure as judge, he has allowed anyone to wear the Jewish skullcap, then he should immediately be indicted as exhibiting blatant bias in his courtroom. What is good for the kangaroo, etc. If Sikhs cannot wear their turbans, then no other religion or group has the right to wear their particular headress.
I am intimately acquainted with bias and ignorance since I am from Alabama, but Mississippi outdoes my state. It is probably the most backward state in the union. Darwin is still under attack there, but I am shocked to hear that Mississippi is now attacking Copernicus and Gallileo.
in united states one can not wear any kind of head dress in presense of a judge in a court room even if it is an all American Yankees bb cap do you boys get it? and if that boy doesn't approve he can get the hell out and go to panjubestan via londonestan, also the cops were wrong to do those things to the Sikh.
On the contrary: what you wear in a courtroom is pretty much universally left up to the judge's discretion. No hats is common, but it's not a law, and you never see judges hassling nuns to remove their coifs. There's another big caveat though:
Many (if not most) venues have explicit non-discrimination laws forbidding their courts from denying access to people on the basis of religion, race, disability, etc. Denying a required religious article is the same under these laws as telling the crippled guy the court doesn't allow wheelchairs or the near-sighted guy that the court doesn't allow eyeglasses.
Since anti-SIkh, anti-Muslim, and anti-a-lot-of-stuff discrimination has been a thing for a long time, it should surprise no one that this has come up before, and when challenged in a venue with a no discrimination rule, it is universally accepted that you can't ban required religious symbols of any sort.
What does wearing or not wearing a hat in the presence of a judge have to do with justice. It is a silly rule to begin with. A person can respect the court and judge with or without a hat. Society has too many stupid rules…
heck even cops take off their hats in courtroom
Yeah, but they aren't articles of religious faith are they? But seeing as how cops "religiously" beat the crap out of innocent people maybe it really is.
Doesn't look like much has changed in Mississippi in the last 300 years.
swamp reptillians………..
Apparently not much has changed since 1965 when Phil Ochs wrote and sang this song:
Here’s to the State of Mississippi
For underneath her borders, the devil draws no lines
If you drag her muddy river, nameless bodies you will find
Whoa the fat trees of the forest have hid a thousand crimes
The calender is lyin’ when it reads the present time
Whoa, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi, find yourself another country to be part of
Here’s to the people of Mississippi
Who say the folks up north, they just don’t understand
And they tremble in their shadows at the thunder of the Klan
The sweating of their souls can’t wash the blood from off their hands
They smile and shrug their shoulders at the murder of a man
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi, find yourself another country to be part of
Here’s to the schools of Mississippi
Where they’re teaching all the children that they don’t have to care
All of rudiments of hatred are present everywhere
And every single classroom is a factory of despair
There’s nobody learning such a foreign word as fair
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi, find yourself another country to be part of
Here’s to the cops of Mississippi
They’re chewing their tobacco as they lock the prison door
Their bellies bounce inside them as they knock you to the floor
No they don’t like taking prisoners in their private little war
Behind their broken badges there are murderers and more
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi, find yourself another country to be part of
And, here’s to the judges of Mississippi
Who wear the robe of honor as they crawl into the court
They’re guarding all the bastions with their phony legal fort
Oh, justice is a stranger when the prisoners report
When the black man stands accused the trial is always short
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi, find yourself another country to be part of
And here’s to the government of Mississippi
In the swamp of their bureaucracy they’re always bogging down
And criminals are posing as the mayors of the towns
They’re hoping that no one sees the sights and hears the sounds
And the speeches of the governor are the ravings of a clown
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi, find yourself another country to be part of
And here’s to the laws of Mississippi
Congressmen will gather in a circus of delay
While the Constitution is drowning in an ocean of decay
Unwed mothers should be sterilized, I’ve even heard them say
Yes, corruption can be classic in the Mississippi way
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi, find yourself another country to be part of
And here’s to the churches of Mississippi
Where the cross, once made of silver, now is caked with rust
And the Sunday morning sermons pander to their lust
The fallen face of Jesus is choking in the dust
Heaven only knows in which God they can trust
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi, find yourself another country to be part of
The government thugs along with the judge will be put on vacation aka "suspended with pay" if anything comes out of this. I can already hear the distant applause of cuntservative Pamela Geller in the distance.
I knew a Sikh in Fairbanks in the 70's. His turban was long, and he never cut his hair. He was a clean good natured man. Never dreamed of blowing up the pipeline. No one gave him any trouble.
Mississippi Goddamn
it’s just their true colors shining through….I would say at least 40% of whites hates non whites…..40% of whites tolerate non whites and the rest might actually be humans….all the white European has to do is look at their history and the sad thing another 100 year’s from now they will.still look at themselves as evil and say well it wasn’t us it was out ancestors who were so evil….but by then the browns and.blacks will be dominant so whites have to make a plan to keep their.dominance one.way or another…..and the way you do that….create generations of Obama’s….u know uncle Tom scumbuckets
Sikhs do belong in the US if they are US citizens. Sikhism is one of the universal faiths, ie that anyone, including csmallo, can convert to if they wish. I think that freedom of religion is in your Constitution. Let's not forget that most US citizens are immigrants if only a few generations back. As for gereng, s/he seems more worried about skin color than religion – a telling sign in itself.
very honourable people……………
How dare you judge him and know nothing about him. This “judge” is my father. He is not a racist and never has been. My husband is not white neither is my child. We live on his property just so he can be close to his grandchild ! He loves us very much. Don Nash I assure you he does not wear “white sheets”. Grow up !
" . . . a backlash through mis-information and ignorance"
DUH, it's mississippi, y'all, home to white wing extremist ignorant bigots (and proud of it).
in united states one can not wear any kind of head dress in presense of a judge in a court room even if it is an all American Yankees bb cap do you boys get it? and if that boy doesn't approve he can get the hell out and go to panjubestan via londonestan, also the cops were wrong to do those things to the Sikh.
That's bullshit! My Mom worked for a state district court judge. No such rule. It's up to the judge and as the Sikh's turban and knife are an article of religious faith and we do have a 1st amendment,you my friend are very wrong! As well as the redneck judge with the IQ of a bug!
Last time I checked Sikhs were not trying to take over the world, and they're really respectful and respectable people. I hold them on a par with the older generation of Poles, very sociable, open, honest, trustworthy, honourable and mutually accepting of all other faiths and denominations. I only wish the same could be said of those masquerading as upholders of the law, and 'some individuals'. Here we have police AND judge breaking the law and being racist with impunity, please, be open and honest if you agree with that, I'd like to hear your justification.
Maybe you should recheck. There are reports of Sikhs terrorists groups. Mistaken identities is not just in the south. He was carrying an illegal knife, by length, and was told to remove his headdress by the judge. I can't find if its an actual law but the judge can tell those in his court not to wear a hat or headdress. What law did the police and judge break? Its in bad form to call a person by the wrong race but is it illegal?
The legal system is of the devil tormenting -people with a good spirit in them. Fear drives the tormentors. Stop persecuting the lowly humble Sikh.
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