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Christie nominates Muslim lawyer for NJ bench
NJ governor Chris Christie has nominated a Muslim lawyer who defended Islamist terror suspects after 9/11 for a seat on the state's top court.Sohail Mohammed "worked in the aftermath of the attacks to try to foster trust between American Muslims and law enforcement, particularly federal officials," according to The New York Times. Christie met him at an annual Ramadan dinner at the American Muslim Union some time back, and has praised the Muslim lawyer. Mohammed gained notoriety defending The Fort Dix Six, would-be Islamist terrorists who plotted to shoot up the Fort Dix in January 2006. "If these people did something, then they deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law," Mohammed said of his clients then. "But when the government says -- 'Islamic militants,' it sends a message to the public that Islam and militancy are synonymous." "Don't equate actions with religion," he said. Mohammed mainly works on immigration issues. He has also arranged job fairs that help Muslims to find employment in the FBI and other law enforcement, and has given many lectures on Islam and Muslim culture to the FBI. Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR praised the nomination. "It's just more evidence of the growth and maturity of the American Muslim community and our contributions to American society," The Daily Reporter quotes Hooper. "We have a large number of young Muslim attorneys coming up through the legal system, which is a fairly recent trend. It used to be that Muslim parents wanted their children to become doctors or engineers." Posted by: ryuge 2011-01-16 |
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