AHCA.ORG - Save Our Seniors Petition

http://www.capwiz.com/ahca/issues/alert/?alertid=13862401&type=CO

Go here, type in your zip code.

on the page that pops up, scroll down until you see a box that says sincerely then an empy box. Put your name in the empty box. Scroll down and fill in the rest of the information. If you would feel like helping the facility I work at, under the box that says facility put Blue River Rehabilitation Center and in the parent company box put Skilled Healthcare. If you don't care to help with my facilities competition atleast fill in your information and click send.

Keep in mind you'll be helping to save my job, my mothers job, and thousands of other individuals jobs as well.

Amendment 1 (cont'd)

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) — A Muslim woman on Wednesday sued a Michigan judge for telling her to remove her headscarf in his courtroom, claiming he violated her First Amendment right to practice her religion.

Raneen Albaghdady, 32, says she felt humiliated when Wayne County Circuit Judge William Callahan ordered her to remove her hijab at a June 16 hearing in his Detroit courtroom. The headscarf, which does not cover the face, is worn by many Muslims in the U.S.
"This is the country and the land of freedom, and we're not supposed to be treated like this for the scarf," the Dearborn Heights woman said at a news conference Wednesday at the Southfield headquarters of the Council on American-Islamic Relation's Michigan chapter, which joined in the federal lawsuit against Callahan and Wayne County.
A courtroom video of the hearing shows Albaghdady appearing before Callahan wearing a loose headscarf.
"No hats allowed in the courtroom," Callahan told her.
"This one?" she asked, touching her scarf. "Ah, OK. It doesn't matter."
Albaghdady pushed back her headscarf for the rest of the hearing on her request to change her name. Callahan denied the request on technical grounds.
"Judge Callahan and the court have the greatest respect for spiritual practices and all religious preferences," Callahan said in a statement released by the court. "Had he been informed that the head covering had some religious significance, the judge would have permitted Ms. Albaghdady to continue wearing it in court."
Albaghdady, a native of Iraq, said Wednesday she was intimidated by Callahan and feared she would be arrested if she refused to remove her hijab.
"I come from a country where you can't say no to a judge in a courtroom," she said.
Some Muslims believe Islamic law requires women to wear a headscarf, veil or burqa in the presence of a man who is not a close relative.
The lawsuit asks a federal judge to order judges in Wayne County to allow the wearing of the headscarf in court.
Wayne County, which includes Detroit, is home to one of the nation's largest Muslim populations.
In another situation involving veils, the Michigan Supreme Court voted June 17 to give judges wide authority over the appearance of witnesses. The rule was adopted after a Muslim woman refused to remove her niqab, or face veil, while testifying in a 2006 small-claims case. Hamtramck District Judge Paul Paruk dismissed Ginnnah Muhammad's case as a result.
Albaghdady appeared before Callahan the day before the state Supreme Court approved the rule. Her lawsuit does not challenge it or address the issue of face veils, said her attorney, Nabih Ayad.
"That's for a later case," he said.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 In this article from The Chicago Tribune, an islamic woman has her 1st amendment rights violated from pure ignorance. The judge had no right to ask to remover her scarf. If it had been a baseball hat or something ridiculous like that I could understand the judge using his position to ask said person to remove their head gear. Raneen used her right to free speech and freedom of religion in giving an interview to the press regaurding her case over religious opression. This is a clear view of  the use of the 1st amendment.




Video thanks to mboyet at YouTube.com

These students signed their 1st amendment rights away for free food as a celebration for Constitution Day. Though they experienced what it would be like without those specific rights for just one day, there are millions who live without these rights on a daily basis.


I know with the strong headed opinions that I have and the fact that I'm not afraid to state those opinions, I need to be thankful for the 1st amendment on the constituants that many have been slain in other countries due to their opinionated will.

Amendment 1

Amendment I




Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791.



Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Opinion:

This amendment is stating that by law the congressional assembly can not restrict the ability of a person to practice a religion. In no form may another lawfully ridicul the practices and beliefs of another religion within reason of the Constitution. I feel that this amendment is well placed and decided upon by reason of the fact that many religions vary and can seem udderly ridiculous to others. This protects the religiously different from the christian/catholic mainstream that our nation is based upon. With the incident of 9-11 many muslim/islamic people have been feeling the effects of the cultural difference. Being stopped at airports for extra screenings or being mocked by the masses. Due to this amendment, the many muslims that feel the effects of the 9-11 incident, are able to keep their jobs, own their homes, shop at the same places as the rest of us, and be a functioning member of society. If it weren't for this amendment the amount of religious persecution pressed upon these "different" people would be repulsive. Internment camps such as those that our nation created against the Irish during the early years of our nation or of the ones created for the Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor. I know I would not be able to feel good about myself knowing that my country was causing such harm to an innocent person just becasue they are of the same religious background as a group of mass murdering terrorists were. Thanks to this amendment, I nor anyone else has to feel that being of a certain religion is a reason for persecution.

Also stated is the freedom of speech.Giving the people free speech gives them the ability to open mindedly speak against or for anything of their choosing as long as it is not plagarized or slanderous. If this amendment did not exist Martin Luther King Jr. would not have been able to openly speak of the combining of whites and blacks. If this had never happened our society may still be segregated today. Along the lines of MLKJr, if it weren't for the freedom to assemble, the masses would not have been able to join together in the presence of him to show that they wanted to create a new non-segregated world.

The right to petition is present in the above amendment. The right to petition gives the American people their voice. A more current situation is the healthcare reform. As an employee of a skilled nursing facility, I completely oppose the $32 billion cuts in medicare and medicaid. If the right to petition was not available, I would not be able to show that I oppose this cut. At my job now, many of my co-workers and I have banned together on a national website to sign the petition against the cuts. see ahca.org. The right to petition gives me the opportunity to show my opinion.

The freedom of press is within its own commodity. I not being a member of the press cannot speak first hand of the advantages is gives not the disadvantages. However, without it, we would not be able to follow most government movement, celebrity lifestyle, or historical outcome in our own living rooms. The freedom of press gives the common American the ability to know what is going on in the country and world around them.