(BOSTON, MA, 6/15/2023) – The Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MA), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed a decision by that state’s Supreme Judicial Court to grant a new trial to a Muslim defendant whose attorney made multiple Islamophobic and racist posts over the course of several years on social media.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court approved a request for a new trial for Anthony Dew, a Black Muslim man, after his state-appointed defense attorney was found to have expressed racist and anti-Muslim views both to Mr. Dew personally and on social media. CAIR-MA previously joined an amicus brief requesting a new trial.
SEE: Lawyer Racism Is Conflict of Interest, Top State Court Says
In its decision, the Court wrote in part:
The defense attorney’s “animus against persons of the Muslim faith and his racism against Black persons, demonstrated by his social media posts (some of which were made at the courthouse while he was serving clients in his professional capacity), and manifest in his treatment of the defendant — a Black, Muslim man — during the representation, presented an actual conflict of interest…The defendant has shown that [the defense attorney’s] biases infected his representation of the defendant.”
In a statement, CAIR-MA Legal Director Barbara Dougan said:
“We are very pleased that the SJC saw how, in their own words, the defense attorney’s Islamophobia and racism ‘infected’ his representation of his Muslim client, creating a conflict of interest. It’s often hard enough for members of marginalized communities to obtain justice in our criminal legal system. Here, the court refused to minimize the level of religious and racial hatred that the defense attorney displayed – indeed, publicly posted for the world to see — and ordered a new trial.”
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: Barbara J. Dougan, CAIR-MA Legal Director, 781-281-9992, [email protected], CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected], CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected]