| In SDNY Cuban Religion Said
To Excuse Gun Possession But Judge Hellerstein
Rejects It
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
May 18 – Eric Cruz was up for
sentencing on gun charges on
May 18 and in his defense
submission was this: "Mr.
Cruz' possession of the
firearm at issue was solely
for use in the ceremonial
practice of his religion, Palo
Mayombe. Firearms hold only
symbolic meaning in the ritual
practice of the religion and
involve no violence or threat
of violence."
U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein
weighed this claim against the
Religious Freedom Restoration
Act of 1993 and found it
wanting. Inner City Press
covered the proceeding.
Inner City
Press called in to report on
the telephonic sentencing, on
Judge Hellerstein's usual
line, and when asked, "Speak
your name," said "Inner City
Press," as done each time
before.
Assistant US
Attorney Kedar S. Bhatia said
under the CARES Act, must find
video conference not
available, and it is not, at
the Westchester County
Jail.
Judge Hellerstein said,
Correct. Thank you. And there
is no likelihood things will
be better in 60 days. Mr. Cruz
has seen me before, he knows
me.
Judge
Hellerstein said, He is citing
a Cuban religion as a basis
for having a gun. But a loaded
gun? He cites the Religious
Freedom Restoration Act of
1993 - government must show a
compelling interest. But that
does not require the US to do
handstands... I find that
there is not a burden on this
religion, and that even if
there were it would be
acceptable to control guns. I
wanted to make this on the
record, that I considered this
and denied it.
Cruz' Federal Defender said,
There are family members who
have dialed in.
Judge
Hellerstein muses, Mr. Cruz
has had no bad incidents in
jail. He is a trustee of the
library in the jail, a
position that has a certain
degree of respect to it. He's
learned acupuncture, and
there's a market for that. He
has potential. But what about
respect for law?
Cruz spoke
for himself, saying, I began
to change when I studied
Eastern Medicine. I have a 3.9
grade point average. I have
studied massage therapy. With
this conviction, it is more
difficult. On April 13 I
tested positive for COVID-19.
I lost my sense of smell. I
was kept in cell for 23 and a
half hours a day for 14 days.
I still suffer dizziness,
which has been confirmed as
post-COVID symptoms.
Cruz added,
Throwing the gun out the
window was selfish, I agree. I
want to thank my Federal
Defender. She called my
fiancee and kept her
updated.
Judge Hellerstein ultimately
imposed a sentence of 21
months in custody, to be
followed by three years of
supervised release. The case
is US v. Cruz, 19-cr-775
(Hellerstein).
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2020 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
