Why A CGU Student Should Have Her Lawsuit Dismissed

I followed this case in December of last year. (It is the same case, though there is an error with the website that lists it from 2005.) It seemed fishy at the time but I decided to keep following. Sure enough, it is fishy.

Here are the facts of the case for readers who haven't been following the case since December when I first blogged about it.

Jameelah Medina is a student at CGU and a Muslim. Normally I wouldn't care what Ms. Medina's religious background is, but it is important for the story.

Ms. Medina has sued the county last year, claiming humiliation when she was arrested on suspicion of carrying a fraudulent Metrolink pass on Dec. 7, 2007. At a press conference back in December, she admitted that the press pass was fraudulent.

Now, Ms. Medina is an admitted law breaker who has already wasted enough of the taxpayer's money, but now she wants to sue with her ACLU buddies. She was required to remove her headscarf during that booking.

Medina, a practicing Muslim, alleges the county violated her religious freedom when she was forced to remove her head covering in the presence of men unrelated to her.

She is seeking unlimited damages.

Her suit involves four separate claims, the other three involving violating religious freedom for inmates, the constitutional right to worship and the California Constitution.

Ms. Medina violated the law by using a fraudulent pass, which she admits to doing, and now is using the Koran as her legal basis to challenge her booking. If that weren't bad enough, she's seeking unlimited damages from the State of California.

Well, San Bernandino County attorney Dana Fox thinks that it's rubbish that Medina's clogging up the courts. They might move to dismiss all of Medina's suit.

"We disagree with her claim," Fox said. "We disagree with the allegations in the case."

Ms. Medina should have to pay the County for every dime of taxpayer dollars she wasted on this frivolous lawsuit. Reason Magazine's Walter Olson has written about the system known as Loser Pays where the loser of the lawsuit must pay for trying to shake down an innocent party.