Muslim Cabbies Lose Court Case in Minneapolis
September 9, 2008
I traveled to Minneapolis last year to investigate the growing demands of Islamic groups there, including attempts by Muslim cabbies to bar passengers from carrying alcohol (watch my story here). It looks like those cabbies' attempts are failing. Here's an update, from the Star Tribune:
Muslim cabbies whose religious beliefs go against driving passengers who carry alcohol have lost another round in Minnesota courts.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday against the cabbies' latest attempt to block penalties from being imposed when they refuse to transport passengers because they're carrying alcoholic beverages.
An ordinance adopted by the Metropolitan Airports Commission last year revokes a cabbie's license for 30 days for refusing to pick up a passenger for any reason at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. A second refusal brings a two-year revocation.
A large share of the cabbies who serve the airport are Somali Muslims, and many of them believe that Islamic law prohibits them from giving rides to people carrying alcohol. Since the commission began keeping track in 2002, there have been over 5,200 recorded instances of cabbies refusing service to passengers at the airport, including a "significant percentage" of passengers carrying alcohol, the appeals court noted.
Read it all. Whatever happened to the god old days, when all I had to worry about when hailing a cab were guys like this? Stick with that link all the way through: you won't be disappointed. They just don't make 'em like that anymore.
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