The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department filed suit on behalf of a Muslim teacher in Illinois who quit her job after she was not allowed to go on a three-week pilgrimage to Mecca shortly after being hired. The Washington Post rounded up the usual suspects to accuse DoJ of partisanship or ethnic pandering:
“It sounds like a very dubious judgment and a real legal reach,” said Michael B. Mukasey, who was attorney general in the George W. Bush administration. “The upper reaches of the Justice Department should be calling people to account for this.”
[…]
Hans von Spakovsky, a Justice Department civil rights official in the Bush administration, said, “No jury anywhere would think that a teacher leaving for three weeks during a crucial time at the end of a semester is reasonable.”
“This is a political lawsuit to placate Muslims,” he said.
For von Spakovsky, who is constantly in a state of psychological projection, it’s actually impossible for the DoJ under Obama to file a civil rights lawsuit that isn’t somehow based on identity politics. Left out of the piece is that, as Civil Rights Division head Thomas Perez pointed out at yesterday’s hearing, that the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission filed a similar suit under Bush in 2007.
I gave Senator Lindsey Graham a hard time for his argument against the case in my column today, but I’d have to say that while I don’t think the division is guilty of wrongdoing here, I probably agree with Graham that this suit shouldn’t have been filed.
Why? While there may be an argument under the law for the suit, I’m made slightly uncomfortable by the notion that religion exempts people from their professional duties. What this case reminded me of is the so-called “conscience clause” that allowed anti-choice pharmacists to avoid filling prescriptions for birth control.
This case is different because it’s a one time deal. But my general rule of thumb is, if your religion keeps you from being able to do your job, you need to find a new job.
