France's high court has given the OK to legislation banning the Islamic face veil from being worn in public.
While the bill was still in discussion stages earlier this year, the council warned that a blanket ban on all veils in the streets of France might not past constitutional muster.
But after reviewing the law, the council said in a ruling Thursday that "the law forbidding concealing the face in public conforms to the Constitution."
It expressed one reservation: "Nevertheless, the ban on hiding the face in public should not … restrict the exercise of religious freedom in places of worship open to the public." It did not directly say that the law couldn't be applied in mosques, but suggested that doing so could be constitutionally objectionable.
Meanwhile, the government of Italy has issued a report favorable to legislation that would institute a similar ban.
The Interior Ministry said that after inquiries with leading Muslims, it was learned that the use of the burqa and face veils was not mentioned or ordered in the Quran. It also mentioned that the origin of the face veil does not come from Islam's Holy Book.
Whatever you think of a face veil, here's hoping American courts remain more hesitant to weigh in on a theological question.
