Press Release: November 21, 2018 “Judge Friedman’s premature ruling is beyond egregious. It is inhuman and un-American.”
AMERICAN ISLAMIC FORUM FOR DEMOCRACY
Press Release
Contact: Mischel Yosick – AIFD
Phone: 480-225-7473
Email: mischel@zliberty.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 21, 2018
“Judge Friedman’s premature ruling is beyond egregious. It is inhuman and
un-American.”
PHOENIX, ARIZONA: In an unexpected disappointing turn, a federal judge has dismissed charges of female genital mutilation (FGM) against Michigan physicians over his belief that the federal law passed in 1996 was unconstitutional. The Detroit Free Press reported yesterday that, “In a major blow to the federal government, a judge in Detroit has declared America’s female genital mutilation law unconstitutional, thereby dismissing the key charges against two Michigan doctors and six others accused of subjecting at least nine minor girls to the cutting procedure in the nation’s first FGM case.”
The AIFD has been following this Detroit case closely since charges were first announced in April 2017 when we noted, “The American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD), a Muslim-led organization whose founding principles include gender equality, welcomes the news that Jumana Nagarwala, a Detroit-based physician, has been arrested for allegedly carrying out female genital mutilation (FGM) against girls here in the United States.”(full release)
AIFD President, M. Zuhdi Jasser, has written extensively on this case including a comprehensive piece for the Gatestone Institute in June 2017: “Female Genital Mutilation: American Muslim Physician Says Stop Defending the Abuse of Girls and Women.”
Today, in reaction to Judge Friedman’s dismissal of the FGM charges, Dr. Jasser, AIFD President, said:
“Judge Friedman’s premature ruling is beyond egregious. It is inhuman and un-American. The judge essentially just signaled to butchers like “Dr” Nagarwala that they can seek refuge in the U.S. federal system for their crimes against the humanity of young girls. I understand the mental gymnastics of his federalist ruling. But the case hasn’t even been tried yet. While Nagarwala may yet end up in jail for decades due to obstruction charges, there appeared to be many other ways justice could have been served for those poor tortured girls she slaughtered without dismissing the entire #FGM charge.”
Dr. Jasser further noted the profound implications of this premature ruling:
“This is a landmark case. The judge cannot just wrap himself conveniently in a few words of acknowledgment of the horrors of FGM. This case was breaking new ground and it’s not clear to anyone that the feds made their case at all yet let alone fully, as to why they had jurisdiction and why the federal law was in fact constitutional. Instead it appears that the judge simply took a sweeping premature puritanical approach to his federalist concerns. Seven to nine year old girls were being trafficked between states and then tortured by licensed physicians. Federal law enforcement devoted heavy national resources to the case after finding probable cause for the crimes on federal books. It requires a suspension of disbelief for anyone to even entertain an argument that FGM based in cross state trafficking could not fit into many aspects of federal jurisdiction especially given the ’96 law. Yet the judge predetermined the law to be unconstitutional. So if this case is about the hope of finding any justice for the young tortured mutilated girls, there must have been countless ways for the judge to hear the case and then send a clear and unmistakable message about FGM regarding many counts against the perpetrators while yet leaving some room in the decision for some teaching points on “federalism”.”
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About AIFD
The American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a Muslim led think tank based in Phoenix, AZ, addresses the root cause of the domestic and international threat of radical Islamist terrorism. AIFD’s mission is to advocate for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution – liberty and freedom – through the separation of mosque and state and is dedicated to providing an American Muslim voice calling for genuine reform against Islamism and the ideologies which fuel global Muslim radicalization. AIFD promotes reform-minded Muslim voices for liberty, and is shaking the hold which Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood have upon Muslim leadership.
About M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D.
Dr. Jasser, president and founder of AIFD, and co-founder of the Muslim Reform Movement, is the author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith”, and is also founder of Take Back Islam. Dr. Jasser is an American Muslim and son of Syrian immigrants who fled Ba’athist oppression in 1966. Zuhdi is a physician in private practice and a former US Navy officer. He is a former commissioner and Vice-Chair of U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) appointed by the U.S. Senate serving from 2012-2016. An internationally recognized expert on Islamism, Dr. Jasser is widely published in the field and is featured in many top-tier media. He regularly testifies to the U.S. Congress on the threat of global Islamism and domestic and foreign counter-ideology strategy. Zuhdi’s work is dedicated to championing universal human rights rooted in an American and Western identity from within the “House of Islam”. Twitter: @DrZuhdiJasser
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