Muslim cabbies get tickets while praying
Chicago Sun-Times, September 16, 2007
In the 9/16 Chicago Sun Times article, you may have noted that Aviation Department spokesman deflects the argument with "If a vehicle blocks off other vehicles from leaving the facility, it becomes a problem."
He is propagating the false and incorrect assertion that the praying drivers are blocking traffic, disguised as a theory.
THEY ARE NOT BLOCKING TRAFFIC. This "problem" is not blocked traffic, because people are praying. It never has been the problem.
Understandably traffic can become very heavy and congested during peak air travel arrivals and departure times. The bumper to bumper line of taxicabs, limos, car rental busses, delivery vans and vehicles, often backs up from the terminals to the staging area.
But, to the best of my knowledge and observation no man praying (or his parked taxi) has ever gotten in the way of that traffic or contributed to that congestion until after he was finished with his devotions and entered the line of taxicabs, limos, car rental busses, etc. to go to his assigned terminal for a passenger.
And let us not forget each taxicab driver that goes down to a terminal paid up his $1 "departure tax" or no ticket to the terminal. Drivers returning from a "short trip" pay $2 because the stamps only come in two dollar denomination and the driver may only charge $1 per trip. The driver pays $1 extra for a tax that is limited by law to be $1.
They used to officially call it the MPEA tax, often referred to as the Mayor's Personal Enrichment Assessment.
Maybe we should all sue the City and the "authority" which is a conspiracy between City and State authorities for McCormick Place projects funding. Maybe we should get a few hundred pounds of tea and dump it into the waters of Navy Pier to make our point. Maybe we can dunk a few politicians and their appointees in the water too!
City officials have claimed that they cannot make a $1 stamp. Duh?! I swear on everything that is holy and good in the universe that this is true! They actually believe they cannot make a $1 stamp.
Back to the real problem: The real problem is self-styled vigilante Ground Transportation and/or CPD psychos with parking ticket books.
We can live and work with the traffic congestion. We should not have to live with self-styled, out-of-control vigilante enforcement psychos with parking ticket books who have decided that it is once again time to victimize the easiest prey, a praying Muslim.
Attorney Donald Nathan wrote the following regarding this matter:
“Freedom of religion is certainly guaranteed by the Bill of Rights incorporated into the constitution of the United States, and it is mirrored in the constitution of the State of Illinois. The freedom to pray without interference follows by obvious implication. To the extent that cab drivers are now receiving parking tickets while exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right to pray as they choose, their freedom of religion is being trammeled upon by the Chicago Police Department.
No doubt the City attorneys would argue that there is a need to keep the traffic flow free at O'Hare in the area of the commercial lot. But if that were the case, the City should never have erected a place for drivers to pray - it was akin to erecting a huge mousetrap for religious cab drivers. It offends anyone's sense of decency -- and common sense.
There probably is no "Freedom to Pray" that anyone could argue is guaranteed by the words of the four corners of the constitution of either the federal or state governments. What is guaranteed is the right to pray as you like. There is nothing that says where you can be guaranteed that right. But it sure is obvious enough that ticketing drivers for parking outside their place of prayer on the pretext of keeping O'Hare traffic flow moving is an outrage - it is offensive to anyone who calls himself an American.
It's like I said in the e-mail I circulated yesterday: can you imagine cops ticketing anyone parking illegally outside Holy Name Cathedral on Easter Sunday? The fact that there are 2,400,000 Catholics in the Diocese of Cook and Lake alone is enough to dissuade cops from writing a parking ticket while parishioners are inside genuflecting. The cop who gave a ticket to a parishioner could expect himself to be mounted onto the nearest cross by his watch commander.
Try this one on for size - every year a group of ultra-orthodox Jews set up a place just to the north of the Richard J. Daley Civic Center just south of Randolph Street in which they eat and pray during their High Holy Days of Sukkoth. The place is called a Sukkah. Can you imagine what would happen if an observant Jew were to park at the south curb of Randolph, go in to eat and pray in the Sukkah and return to a parking ticket? Do you think for one billionth of a second that the cop who ticketed his car parked at that curb would go without criticism? NO WAY. That cop could expect to be reassigned to a job cleaning toilets in his precinct police station - or sent off for a second circumcision.
If ever there were a matter ripe for you all to rally around, this is it. Not many Americans would be able to stomach the City's policy here. Even atheists would find it offensive to a sense of common decency.
If a Muslim is praying to Allah in a house of prayer, no matter how humble that house may be and no matter where it is placed, it is offensive to anyone's sense of common decency to give that man a ticket for parking outside it.”
Thank you Wolf for beginning this post with the facts and your opinions.
I, too, have witnessed the unnecessary ticketing of cabdrivers who have pulled to the extreme right lane near the shelter area where many, many Muslims pray together or alone.
They are NOT obstructing traffic. In fact, I believe that there is so much room between the I-90 Bessie Coleman Exit and the O'Hare border fence that the City could pave to create diagonal parking spaces for these observant Muslims to use in order to exercise their rights to Freedom of Religion.
I am deeply offended that the Government, through its agents who apparently have nothing better to do at O'Hare Airport, has offended Muslims by interfering with their Constitutional Rights.
God is Greater than any Government.
Wolf, can you and I work together to eliminate this most serious injustice?
Is there any else who feels the same way and would like to help?
-MIKE FOULKS
