Freedom Fries Anyone?

UPDATE: Lest we be seen as being too hard on the French, how would this case come out under Smith and the Free Exercise Clause? Suppose the State of Nebraska adopts a generally applicable "no headgear" rule for driver's license photos? Do Sikhs have a free exercise right to keep their turbans on when being photgraphed for a driver's license?

What about it Marco and others? Do the Red Sox play in the eastern division of the Freedom League?


France doesn't get religious liberty. Here is a post from the ACS blog:

French Sikhs Lose Appeal, Must Remove Turbans

The French Council of State, the country's highest administrative body, has ruled that Sikhs must remove their turbans when being photographed for a driver's license. In reversing its previous decision on the matter, the body found that the no turban rule was necessary in "the interests of public security and protection of order" and not an infringement on Sikh's freedom of religion. French Sikhs have urged President Jacques Chirac to intervene on their behalf and are threatening to take the matter to the European Court of Human Rights if nothing is done to ameliorate the situation. This decision comes on the heels of a controversial French law prohibiting French school children from wearing conspicuous religious symbols in public schools, which has raised the ire of many French religious minorities.