Religious Beliefs as Criminal Defense?

[James Edward Maule]

http://www.philly.com/philly/insights/20120307_Judge_did_harm_in_the_name_of_tolerance.html

Posted: Wed, Mar. 7, 2012, 3:00 AM
Judge did harm in the name of tolerance
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Yet just last week, a state trial judge there dismissed harassment charges against Talaag Elbayomy, a 46-year-old Muslim immigrant so infuriated by a costume he saw at the Mechanicsburg Halloween parade that he felt the need to physically attack the man wearing it.

Ernest Perce, a member of the Parading Atheists of Central Pennsylvania, was dressed as "Zombie Muhammad" while a fellow nonbeliever walking alongside him was dressed as a "Zombie pope." Outraged by what he perceived to be an insult against the prophet of Islam, Elbayomy rushed Perce and then attempted to choke him.
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[rather than trying to paraphrase the rest of the article, I'll suggest reading it for both additional facts and the commentary by the article's author]
[the case is in Cumberland Co., Pa.]

Jim Maule
Villanova University School of Law

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