It happened last year but deserves to be known. Guts on the bench: telling CAIR to stay out of it as well as schooling them on Islamic law. Mike Lief has the full text of the judge’s letter to CAIR, which says in part:

Frankly, I cannot understand why you have framed this as a religious rights issue, when both Islamic law and American jurisprudence recognize that witnesses have to be seen, as well as heard, in court. Even those conservative Islamic scholars who hold that women are obliged to cover their faces make exceptions for business and legal dealings, and state that considerations of fairness require a woman to remove her veil when she is giving testimony in court or when others testify against her. In keeping with this principle, other women who have come to my court wearing the niqab have removed it to testify.

Anybody I “know” via blogs and comments going to CPAC and care to meet up? I’m considering going but don’t want to be entirely on my own. Let me know in comments or email me at my psudonym at my site dot com.