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HCUCC Joins Effort to Support Individuals Targeted Because of Religion 

February 5, 2020

At the last Conference Council meeting on February 1, the Council voted to have the Hawai'i Conference sign on to an amicus brief in the case of Muslims who were targeted by government officials because of their religion, a case that is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

The plaintiffs are Muslims who had refused to serve as informants in their Muslim communities, and as a result, FBI agents retaliated by placing them on the No Fly List. After suffering extensive harm and harassment by the FBI, the plaintiffs sued under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), asking for monetary compensation for damages.

In 2018, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that RFRA allows individuals who have been targeted on the basis of religion to claim money damages from the government agents who targeted them. The government is now challenging the Court of Appeals decision before the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

The Hawai'i Conference was approached by the attorney writing the amicus brief to join an interfaith coalition of religious groups in signing on to the brief.

 

Read the entire amicus brief HERE.

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