THE STRUGGLE FOR RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM
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Sultaana Freeman Coverage Parallels Kobe Bryant Media Frenzy
By Andrew Williams Sultaana Freeman, the veiled woman seeking reinstatement of her driver's license, had to endure a nasty smear campaign headed by Jason Vail, Assistant Attorney General representing the Florida DMV. False accusations about Sultaana and husband Abdul-Maalik fueled everyone from the general public, to Muslims, to extremist hate groups, all to join in attacks against the Freemans. The Freemans were told they were either too conservative or not conservative enough in their religious practices. They were accused of past horrible deeds that lacked any evidence whatsoever. Mr. Vail furiously painted them as terrorists who had no other motivation behind veiling but to commit crimes. However, the Freemans weren't on trial, and because they weren't witnesses in a criminal case, their character has no bearing or relevance in the courtroom. The fact that Sultaana religiously veiled was all that mattered about her and all that will be considered by the court as the case proceeds. Her husband's religious beliefs are irrelevant to the case (he could be Christian for all the court cares) and a negative campaign against him is also irrelevant and irresponsible.
Parallel the attacks on Sultaana Freeman, the veiled driver, with the current media frenzy about the famous basketball player, Kobe Bryant, in his alleged sexual assault case. Kobe's accuser does not show her face, to protect herself. Yet some people find vindication in revealing every possible bit of information about her to scare her away from proceeding with the case. The Los Angeles Daily News (dailynews.com) reports "experts said Sunday that the 19-year-old woman who says he raped her must brace herself for a well-financed, highly sophisticated smear campaign." The effects the publicized allegations will have on Kobe Bryant are excruciatingly clear, from the social stigma, to coping with the threat of possible years in prison. Everyone has a "past" and the media can spin it either as:
Both Kobe and his accuser are taking blows from negative smearing now that the case is in the media. If Kobe is found innocent in court, he may never get back the full respect he once enjoyed - there will always remain those who hang a shadow of doubt over his head. If he is found guilty, the accuser may never get her reputation back and will have a hard time returning to things as they were before. Similarly, Sultaana Freeman didn't ask to have her license revoked, she didn't give permission for CourtTV to air the trial, and she may never fully recover from the attacks on her character. Attorney Jason Vail showered the media with a mixture of truth, exaggerations and baseless facts, all in an effort to harass Mrs. Freeman and hope that she would be too afraid and devastated to proceed with the case. The media coverage prompted a windfall of life-changing events for the Freemans, who received death threats immediately after the trial. As a result of the televised trial, message board posts often included hate speech and occasional threats. An AOL posting by "Wshr122" stated, "A bullet only costs 35 cents and thats a lot cheaper then a one-way ticket for this kind of trash. Don't you agree it's about time something was done?" "DapperDan8573" loaded his cyber-weapon and added, "click .357." Others chimed in until the threat became more and more ominous.
It is not right to compare the life of Sultaana Freeman
Take for instance the players in the recent Federal Supreme Court ground-breaking overturn of a Texas law that banned homosexual activity in the bedroom. There was appropriately no media coverage about the people suing the state and to this day you'd be hard pressed to know a single detail about them or even their names. The press was careful not to let homosexuality be attacked, but the obvious potential attack on Muslims was not averted because many indulged in reporting Mr. Vail's smear campaign against the Freemans. As a consequence, there are lawyers who support the disbarring of Jason Vail from the legal profession, who unethically tried the case in the media in the most malicious of ways. The lesson to be learned is that reporting inaccurate and irrelevant facts can ruin lives. |
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Knowing
that reckless hearesay would not be accepted in a court of law, Jason
Vail presented his theories to the media as fact, and the public ate it up
without considering the source (Mr. Vail) or its accuracy. A few responsible
news agencies were more careful to only report the facts as discovered in
the trial and left out unsubstantiated slander against the Freemans.
with
movie stars or politicians, who make a conscious choice to enter the
public eye. Filing a lawsuit does not guarantee media coverage and it is
reasonable to expect your life will not be at the media's mercy just
for filing it. Lawsuits are filed every day without anyone hearing about
the personal life of those involved.