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Trevor Blake: Mamie Manneh [LINK-ZUM]

August 20, New York Sun: "The woman, who says she imported the monkey parts for religious ceremonies, has attracted pro bono legal assistance from a top law firm, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy. And a professor of African religious traditions at Harvard Divinity School, Jacob Olupona, may testify on her behalf. At a hearing earlier this month, Chief Judge Raymond Dearie of U.S. District Court in Brooklyn ruled that Mamie Manneh, 39, of Staten Island, has legal standing to argue that her religious beliefs should exempt her from criminal prosecution for smuggling the contraband bushmeat."

November 14, New York Times: "A lawyer for a Staten Island woman charged with importing meat without proper licenses and mislabeling a shipment argued in Federal District Court yesterday that the charges should be dismissed because they impinge on the importer's right to freedom of religion."

November 17, New York Times: "No law specifically bans their importation, but Mamie Manneh, 39, of Staten Island, an immigrant from Liberia, is accused of falsely labeling her delivery and failing to obtain proper permits, charges that could bring a maximum prison sentence of five years. Her lawyer has made a motion to dismiss the indictment, arguing that bushmeat has spiritual significance and Ms. Manneh's actions were protected under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act."

November 24, Associated Press: "From her baptism in Liberia to Christmas years later in her adopted New York City, Mamie Manneh never lost the longing to celebrate religious rituals by eating monkey meat. Now, the tribal customs of Manneh and other West African immigrants have become the focus of an unusual criminal case charging her with meat smuggling, and touching on issues of religious freedom, infectious diseases and wildlife preservation. The case 'appears to be the first of its kind relating to that uniquely African product,' defense attorney Jan Rostal wrote in a pending motion to dismiss. 'Unfortunately, it represents the sort of clash of cultural and religious values inherent in the melting pot that is America.' [...] A criminal complaint cited evidence that the illegal importation of bushmeat encourages the slaughter of protected wild animals. More ominously, the complaint warned of 'the potential health risks to humans linking bushmeat to diseases like Lassa fever, Ebola, HIV, SARS and monkeypox.' Defense attorney Rostal has countered by accusing the government of picking on a poorly educated immigrant. Her client's only offense, she said, was her inability to grasp Western attitudes and highly technical regulations regarding bushmeat."

[Articles continue at links. Mamie Manneh is an attempted murderer who illegally imported the remains of endangered species into the USA for the purpose of eating them. Handling and consuming this animal can lead to some of the most nightmarish diseases known to humanity. Only spongiform encephalopathy and religion can soften the mind enough to cause a person to hold Mamie's 'culture' or 'sincere beliefs' worthy of consideration in this regard. It's easy to look around and see that no one around you is eating monkey and that almost anyone you ask would be horrified at the idea. It's easy to not lie to customs. It's easy to not run over people in cars. It's easy to not have nine kids that you can't take care of because you're in prison for trying to kill a woman. I wish it was easy for judges to laugh and scowl and toss her superstitions out of the courtroom. But that would mean tossing out superstitions that are in better favor with the majority, such as Christianity and Judaism and Islam. How much better it would be if the Constitution of the United States were in effect, and there was no establishment of religion in America. - Trevor Blake.]

Labels: christianity, islam, judaism, magick, theocracy