240,000 dollars awarded to man forced to cover Arab T-shirt

[LiberalNation]

serves jet blue right even if it's just a drop in the bucket for them.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090106...s_090106002219

NEW YORK (AFP) – An airline passenger forced to cover his T-shirt because it displayed Arabic script has been awarded 240,000 dollars in compensation, campaigners said Monday.

Raed Jarrar received the pay out on Friday from two US Transportation Security Authority officials and from JetBlue Airways following the August 2006 incident at New York's JFK Airport, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced.

"The outcome of this case is a victory for free speech and a blow to the discriminatory practice of racial profiling," said Aden Fine, a lawyer with ACLU.

Jarrar, a US resident, was apprehended as he waited to board a JetBlue flight from New York to Oakland, California, and told to remove his shirt, which had written on it in Arabic: "We will not be silent."

He was told other passengers felt uncomfortable because an Arabic-inscribed T-shirt in an airport was like "wearing a T-shirt at a bank stating, I am a robber,'" the ACLU said.

Jarrar eventually agreed to cover his shirt with another provided by JetBlue. He was allowed aboard but his seat was changed from the front to the back of the aircraft.

Last week, nine Muslims, including three children, were ordered off a domestic US flight after passengers heard what they believed were suspicious remarks about security.

Although the passengers, eight of them US citizens, were cleared by the FBI, they were reportedly still barred from the AirTran flight.

Security has been at a high level in US airports since the September 11, 2001 hijacked airliner attacks against the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

However, rights groups and representatives of the Muslim community say the security measures have led to frequent discrimination and harassment.

[biblethumper]

Originally Posted by LiberalNation

serves jet blue right even if it's just a drop in the bucket for them.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090106...s_090106002219

NEW YORK (AFP) – An airline passenger forced to cover his T-shirt because it displayed Arabic script has been awarded 240,000 dollars in compensation, campaigners said Monday.

Raed Jarrar received the pay out on Friday from two US Transportation Security Authority officials and from JetBlue Airways following the August 2006 incident at New York's JFK Airport, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced.

"The outcome of this case is a victory for free speech and a blow to the discriminatory practice of racial profiling," said Aden Fine, a lawyer with ACLU.

Jarrar, a US resident, was apprehended as he waited to board a JetBlue flight from New York to Oakland, California, and told to remove his shirt, which had written on it in Arabic: "We will not be silent."

He was told other passengers felt uncomfortable because an Arabic-inscribed T-shirt in an airport was like "wearing a T-shirt at a bank stating, I am a robber,'" the ACLU said.

Jarrar eventually agreed to cover his shirt with another provided by JetBlue. He was allowed aboard but his seat was changed from the front to the back of the aircraft.

Last week, nine Muslims, including three children, were ordered off a domestic US flight after passengers heard what they believed were suspicious remarks about security.

Although the passengers, eight of them US citizens, were cleared by the FBI, they were reportedly still barred from the AirTran flight.

Security has been at a high level in US airports since the September 11, 2001 hijacked airliner attacks against the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

However, rights groups and representatives of the Muslim community say the security measures have led to frequent discrimination and harassment.

Maybe just maybe, they should convince their brethren to stop blowing things up. I too would have felt a little uneasy, It is sad, but I would have watched him like a hawk on the plane sorry .

[Suraklin]

BT - Name me an ethnic group that doesn't include people who have recently or are now blowing things up somewhere around the world and your point might be something worth considering...

[Summerwind]

Originally Posted by Suraklin

BT - Name me an ethnic group that doesn't include people who have recently or are now blowing things up somewhere around the world and your point might be something worth considering...

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding....a perfect answer.

[jfuh]

Originally Posted by biblethumper

Maybe just maybe, they should convince their brethren to stop blowing things up. I too would have felt a little uneasy, It is sad, but I would have watched him like a hawk on the plane sorry .

How well did that work for German and Japanese American's during WWII? Russian American's during the cold war? Korean American's in preventing Crazy kim from nukes?
These people like them or not are US citizens, they have as much control over the crazies of their heritage as anyone else does over theirs.

[Black Lance]

Originally Posted by Suraklin

BT - Name me an ethnic group that doesn't include people who have recently or are now blowing things up somewhere around the world and your point might be something worth considering...

Yeah, we need to be wary of all those Christian suicide bombers. As well as the atheist, hindu, buddhist, taoist, and the dreaded agnostic suicide bombers who continue to kill pedestrians for God.

Anyone else remember Harry Reid, the shoe bomber? Profiling by an alert passenger saved a couple hundred lives.

To paraphrase a recent movei, An American Charol: your privacy rights end when my survival rights begin. The ACLU is wrong on this one, as usual.

[Suraklin]

Christian bombers - McVeigh... IRA... even Basques might be Christian...

And as for white... well the list is long and distinguished...

Plus technically the various red terror gangs of last century were probably atheist or agnositic.

Profiling for terror is dangerous - if you focus all your attention on one ethnic groups another one will slip through and do you. Large parts of Iran are caucasian for example...

[LiberalNation]

suicide........

[Suraklin]

hijackers? murderers?

and you can't tell a christian by looking, muslims can be white & wear suits too...

[Neko]

Christian bombers - McVeigh... IRA... even Basques might be Christian...

And as for white... well the list is long and distinguished...

Plus technically the various red terror gangs of last century were probably atheist or agnositic.

Profiling for terror is dangerous - if you focus all your attention on one ethnic groups another one will slip through and do you. Large parts of Iran are caucasian for example...

And don't forget, the suicide bomb was invented by Hindus...

[potter]

Originally Posted by Black Lance

Yeah, we need to be wary of all those Christian suicide bombers. As well as the atheist, hindu, buddhist, taoist, and the dreaded agnostic suicide bombers who continue to kill pedestrians for God.

Anyone else remember Harry Reid, the shoe bomber? Profiling by an alert passenger saved a couple hundred lives.

To paraphrase a recent movei, An American Charol: your privacy rights end when my survival rights begin. The ACLU is wrong on this one, as usual.

The Christains just use nukes and B1 bombers and MOABs and mines....for some reason they think that's so much more ethical....

[Justin]

Wasn't it within the airline's rights to require the man to change his shirt...even if the worry was unwarranted? Wouldn't this be similar to them asking a person wearing a shirt with the word "fuck" on it to remove it?

[LiberalNation]

and he should be able to wear a fuck shirt too.

[gurutoo]

Originally Posted by LiberalNation

and he should be able to wear a fuck shirt too.

Should a "Fuck Islam" shirt be ok too?

[LiberalNation]

yep.

[gurutoo]

I like the way you think. No double standard.

[scouser1956]

I just wish sometimes a judge will say yes you have won your case but instead of $240,000 I award you $240

[Suraklin]

Originally Posted by scouser1956

I just wish sometimes a judge will say yes you have won your case but instead of $240,000 I award you $240

Nah, you have to include some punishment that the company will feel if they have broken the law just like you would with an individual law breaker.

On the other hand splitting it into two parts and having a figure that goers to the plaintiff relating to the actual damage and a figure to the state for the damage 'to the law' you could both punish the criminal in proportion to their income while not giving someone any easy ride just for being lucky enough to get offended near a good lawyer

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by scouser1956

I just wish sometimes a judge will say yes you have won your case but instead of $240,000 I award you $240

I agree.

He shouldn't have been hasseled for the T-shirt, but 240K?

Shit, that's damn near enough to pay off a subprime mortgage.

I think an apology and refunding the price of his ticket so that his flight was for free would have been reasonable.

[Black Lance]

Originally Posted by Tom Joad

I agree.

He shouldn't have been hasseled for the T-shirt, but 240K?

Shit, that's damn near enough to pay off a subprime mortgage.

I think an apology and refunding the price of his ticket so that his flight was for free would have been reasonable.

Most of the money was probably punitive damages.