Warner v Boca Raton

[Vance R Koven]

Having read the case now, I get the distinct impression the judge was
struggling to come up with an excuse to rule against the plaintiffs. He
appeared to be obstinately and willfully ignorant of the fact that for
hundreds of years burial arrangements have been considered a prime subject
of religious concern.

As to Jews, the judge said that although Ashkenazic Jews had a tradition
of maintaining vertical headstones, they didn't uniformly do so in Israel,
as if that mattered. Even if a minority of a particular religion
maintained a certain traditional religious-influenced practice, it is a
phenomenal stretch to rule that such a practice does not derive from a
religious tradition; he seemed to equate non-universality with
idiosyncrasy, which is patently unsound reasoning. With Christians I
suspect the situation is less clear, since there isn't some specific
denominationally-sanctioned doctrine involved, but go find churchyards
without vertical headstones!

What was even more sinister was the strong hint that even the states
couldn't pass RFRAs because, in effect, only the US Supreme Court could
determine what protection fundamental rights were allowed to receive.

******************************************************************
* Vance R. Koven                  * phone: 617-482-3852          *
* attorney at law                 * fax: 617-482-4972            *
* 20 Park Plaza Ste. 633          * net: vrkoven at world.std.com   *
* Boston, MA 02116                *                              *
******************************************************************