Federalist Writer Sues Dearborn Over Religious Displays

Federalist senior legal correspondent Margot Cleveland sued Dearborn and Mayor Abdullah Hammoud on Sept. 17 in the Eastern District of Michigan, alleging First and 14th Amendment violations after she saw Ramadan Kareem banners and a crescent moon downtown in the fourth week of Lent, with Easter two weeks away and Passover a week away and no comparable Christian or Jewish displays. The American Freedom Law Center filed the case. Cleveland says she wants equal treatment, not an end to Ramadan: Passover and Easter banners, a Star of David or cross, and patriotic symbols. She says emails to every council member and the city attorney went unanswered, a council member told her on LinkedIn they were instructed not to talk to her, and no one answered her at a May council meeting; she also says police sold Ramadan T-shirts with the department seal and that displays grew larger and lighted after she complained. Fox News reporting cited about $6,500 in city spending on the banners and crescent display. The city attorney, mayor's office, and police did not respond to Fox News Digital. The allegations have not been established in court.