Veil and Gown Say No

It was a week of change and protest in France. In the days after the National Assembly endorsed a ban on Islamic head scarves and other "ostensibly religious" symbols in public schools, Muslims nationwide marched in anger — and France began confronting this fact: that outlawing a piece of fabric is easy; but inviting Muslims into the life of the republic much harder. Twenty-four hours after lawmakers waved through that bill, they came under renewed fire. Decked out in traditional black gowns and ruffled white collars, thousands of lawyers and judges descended on the Parliament and local legislatures, chanting: "Justice nowhere, police everywhere." The cause of their anger is a sweeping anticrime package, approved last Wednesday, that opponents say will mean "the death of presumption of innocence." Conservatives rallied around the new law, which aims to battle organized crime, including drug trafficking, prostitution, money laundering, racketeering and illegal immigration. Set to take effect in the coming weeks, the law will extend use of police methods such as eavesdropping, which had been largely reserved for battling terrorism. It will also extend from two to four days the period police can detain suspects before filing charges, and introduce American-style plea bargaining. Conservative Justice Minister Dominique Perben noted that it "applies to just 15 precise crime categories," and won't be used against "a motor scooter or apple thief." Opponents argue that the new law requires virtually no proof of a suspect's guilt before the police may use the extended powers, and provides no legal recourse to innocent people who've been unjustly detained. They also worry that plea bargaining will cut courts out of the justice process and place more power in prosecutors' hands — leaving them ripe for political manipulation in sensitive cases. "The problem with such sweeping powers," says one French judge, "is that once these genies are released, they're never put back in the bottle."