Cathleen (@ScrapKitty)

𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐈 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐑∗𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐀 𝟏𝟐-𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑-𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐆𝐎𝐓 𝐌𝐍’𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 — 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐐𝐔𝐄 𝐖𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄 𝐀 ‘𝐂𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒’ 𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 Qalinle Ibrahim Dirie, a 42-year-old Somali immigrant in Minnesota, 𝐚𝐛𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝟏𝟐-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫-𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐲𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫∗𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 in June 2024. He was convicted in May of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Judge Burns sentenced him to 12 years — 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐍 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 for the most serious sex offense on the books. After the conviction, the 𝐀𝐥-𝐈𝐡𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐭. 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐚 ‘𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫’ to the sentencing judge, asking the court to consider that Dirie had faced 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. The letter described him as a devoted family man, an active volunteer at the mosque, and a regular at Friday prayer. Read the mechanism. The mosque’s framing is that the predator’s cultural adjustment is a mitigating factor in the sentencing for the r∗pe of a 12-year-old American child. The judge accepted enough of the framing to give the lowest sentence on the guideline range. Dirie will be eligible for release in 2033 — when the girl he assaulted will be 21 years old and trying to start her adult life. There is no version of American law that recognizes 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 as a defense to child r∗pe. There is no theological or anthropological framework in which the r∗pe of a 12-year-old is a culturally relative offense. The mosque’s letter is an open declaration that the community in question operates under a different moral framework than the country that took them in. Nancy Mace’s 𝘕𝘰 𝘐𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘈𝘤𝘵 was introduced today. This is the case file the bill’s authors will cite on the floor. 𝐀 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐫∗𝐩𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐈𝐟 𝟏𝟐 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦. 𝘝𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 @𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘹𝘔𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴