The Hoboken Cafe 

What do you think about the Florida muslim woman's lawsuit to wear her veil on her driving license?

Surely, if only the eyes are exposed then anyone could use her license?

Exactly, she could pass it around to all of her friends. That's riduculous!

I'm kind of tired of hearing about other cultures taking advantage of the United States. Things are so easy in this country. No wonder we can't find all of the Terrorists and we have the reputation of being the "soft" country.

BTW- I am only first generation American(on my Mother's side). My Dad is American(his ancestors are English). My Japanese Mother is now an American citizen, but I am relating to all of the "Go back where you came from" comments.....when people talk like that, I feel like I don't belong here either. I am thankful to be an American!

Well, as they always tell the teenagers, driving is a priviledge, not a right. So I would think that this is pretty clear. A blocked drivers license isn't a valid drivers license (unless Florida doesn't require photos). So NO DRIVING FOR HER!!!.

Maybe she thinks America is "under God" and her God tells her to wear a veil. In this case, she is doing the right thing (for her) since God comes first, right? :)

Doesn't her *religion* say she's not allowed to drive anyway? (I'm thinking of all the crazy rules in Saudi Arabia.) Or is that waived when she's among the infidels?

I agree that driving is privilige not a right. Therefore what "rights" are being infringed upon??

I would say, the right being infringed upon is the right not to be denied a privilege of citizenship based on the way you practice your religion. This is a christian culture, so the privilege of driving is obtained in a way which is does not conflict with a Christian way of life. It does, however, conflict with the Muslim way of life. She should not have to be forced to deviate from her religious beliefs in order to have access to the privilege of driving. I think there is a 14th amendment equal protection issue here: if the government chooses to make a privilege available, they should make it equally accessable to all citizens, regardless of religious practices. By forcing her to deviate from her religion in order to get the license, they are not providing her the same access to the privileges of citizenship as christians.

(gee, can you tell i'm a lawyer with too much free time?! lol)

They should just find another way to identify her on her drivers license, fingerprints or something. I'm sure if they think hard enough they can come up with something. I sincerely doubt that, if christianity had facial coverings, we would all be riding around in horses and buggies because they could not come up with a way to create identifiable drivers licenses. where there's a will, there's a way. Obviously, in the case of the DMV here, there's no WILL to accomodate her religious practices.

Well, that was a fun way to kill 10 minutes! Nothing like a little friday afternoon intellectual discourse!

Oh please! Rules are rules! This has nothing to do with religion. Anyone covering their face would be denied a driver's license.

Tough noogies to her! The whole point of a complete photo ID is to protect the owner and other drivers, in addition to fighting underage drinking/smoking and other activities not meant for all individuals.

I'm sick of religious zealots and non-citizens (I assume she's a citizen) who expect our government to bend the rules to their whims. Just because any American citizen can try to change the law does not mean the law should be changed.....especially when it comes to safety issues.

I call BS.

Do you actually think "freedom of religion" is a free pass to do anything you want because you claim God wants it that way?

If that’s the case, then it would be okay for practitioners of Voodoo to perform livestock sacrifices when it suits them, right? And what about those cases where someone died since they were kept from medical attention "because God said 'NO'?" Seems to me someone went to jail.

And back to her case, there are some in her religion that she has the obligation to kill infidels if she has the opportunity. Should we look the other way since it would interfere with her practice of her religion?

And besides, as I said earlier, God doesn't want her driving in the first place, that sinner!

This is an arena where a little common sense needs to be exercised.

Ok, rant off.

Ummm,,, what's on her passport? She surely had/has to remove her veil to get into the country?

If she has to for a passport, then surely a driver's license is no different in terms of identification.

Unfortunately the drivers license is becoming a defacto national ID card in the US. So interacting in the economy at large is becoming mroe and more difficult without having to resort to a drivers license or state id card (of which I don;'t have either one).

Now as to the accuracy of a photo id for identification. I used to work in a bar and have seen a large number of drivers licenses. Most of the photo's only vaguely resemble the person. It is usually easier to spot the fake id's that are made because the photo's resemble the carrier too much. Photo id's are a waste because the pictures are too small to allow most people to recognize the person.

All this means is that the woman should be allowed to carry a photo id with her veil on since it won't make any difference anyway.

Final caviat: I think she should be disallowed a Drivers License since I think 90% of the licenses in the US should be revoked anyway, I am unsure about the remaining 10% of licensees.

She appears to be an African-American Muslim woman. The question of passport and non-citizen doesnt arise here.

I can vouch for the above post. I don't own a car, and don't drive, but I've had to renew my license because I've been asked for it many times. Opening bank accounts, some bars, etc.
My honest opinion is that not only should she take the veil off for the photo, but I think people should not be allowed to drive a car with a veil on. It would obstruct her vision if she needed to look behind her.
Automobiles are deadly, two-ton, killing machines. People are WAY too casual about them and the danger they present.

>Automobiles are deadly, two-ton, killing machines.

... I can't help but recall the "Truck-Zilla" episode of the Simpsons...

-Mark