Right wing French mayors refuse to follow court order to lift the ban on burkinis.

[pampango]

French mayors refuse to lift burkini ban despite court ruling

A majority of mayors who have banned burkinis in about 30 French coastal resorts are refusing to lift the restrictions despite the country’s highest administrative court ruling that the bans are illegal, leaving the state facing a dilemma about how to react.

More than 20 mayors have defiantly kept in place decrees under which municipal police can stop and fine any women in full-body swimsuits at the beach despite the ruling from the state council that the burkini bans are a “serious and manifestly illegal violation of fundamental freedoms”.

Only two mayors lifted their bans in the wake of the Villeneuve-Loubet ruling: the Socialist mayor of Oye-Plages near Calais and the centrist mayor of Eze in the Alpes-Maritimes. Mayors from the rightwing Les Républicains party and from the far-right Front National are keeping their bans in place, insisting that the Villeneuve-Loubet case does not apply to them.

The burkini bans – which are now seen as illegal – pose a major problem to the French state, which is responsible for making sure the rule of law is respected. In theory, the state could now instruct local prefects to take action to force mayors to withdraw the bans. Human rights groups have also said they will pursue the towns through courts.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/28/french-mayors-burkini-ban-court-ruling

Not much of a surprise that right wing mayors choose to score political points with their base rather than follow the 'rule-of-law' they so frequently tout.

[True Dough]

1. Lock 'em up!

Let them see how jumpsuits feel.