msnbc.com: Case of fully veiled woman roils France

[Paul Finkelman]

True enough, but France is not the US.  Their traditions and culture are really quite different.  Naturalization in France has always required that one becomes "French" whereas in the US we have only required knowledge (a test) and an oath.  You can still be something else. That is why Frankfurter's opinions in Gobitis and Barnette are so awful.

Paul Finkelman
President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
     and Public Policy
Albany Law School
80 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, New York   12208-3494

518-445-3386 
pfink at albanylaw.edu

>>> Judith Baer <JBAER at politics.tamu.edu> 7/17/2008 11:29 AM >>>
The case started quietly, when a Muslim woman who sheaths herself in a
head-to-toe veil was denied French citizenship because she had not
assimilated enough into this society. 
 
You know what this reminds me of? Frankfurter's explanation to FDR & ER of
his vote in GOBITIS--in a "melting pot," people should give up their quaint
idiosyncratic customs (like not saluting the flag) and blend in. See Max
Freedmen, ed. ROOSEVELT-FRANKFURTER LETTERS.
 
Judy Baer