The Republican
By Stephanie Barry
ThursMay 15, 2014
Atty Mickey Harris , left speaks on behalf of the family of Hibo Hussein and her sister Najma Hussein right as her lawyer Bruce Colton, right, looks on following their court hearing Wednesday. ( MARK M.MURRAY / THE REPUBLICAN ) (Staff photo by Mark M.Murray)
SPRINGFIELD - A lawyer for two Muslim sisters charged in connection with a cafeteria fight last year at West Springfield High School signaled the family is considering civil actions against individuals, the school system and the city's police department.
Springfield attorney Mickey E. Harris said the family of Najma and Hibo Hussein, Somali immigrants, have been targets of persistent anti-Islamic bullying - tarnishing the hopes the family had when they left a Kenyan refugee camp in 2000.
"The question becomes: does it get better or are they better off in a Third World country?" Harris asked.
He added that the family is considering a lawsuit that may target the alleged participants in the dispute, school officials and the police.
Somalia has been in the throes of violent civil war and lawlessness since the late 1980s. Hundreds of thousands were forced to flee.
The Hussein sisters, 19 and 20, respectively, have been charged with unlawful disruption of an assembly after one of the sisters allegedly assaulted another student. Najma Hussein also faces an assault and battery charge. No one else has been charged in the case, and the alleged victim said Fajma Hussein punched and scratched her.
A third sister, Filsan Hussein, also was charged in Juvenile Court. That was dismissed.
Lawyers for the sisters say they were the victims, not the antagonists, in the incident and a school surveillance video will reflect that. The video is not publicly available.
The sisters were set for trial in Springfield District Court on Wednesday, but a judge deficit derailed that. It was rescheduled for Aug. 12.
Several members of the Hussein family were present in court, but the defendants were advised not to speak. Their lawyers said they are focused on finishing school and heading off to college.
A West Springfield police report states the sisters have been involved in similar instances before at school. Lawyers, however, say they have been abused by their classmates at school. Insults have included "towel heads," "terrorists" and questions about whether they are related to Saddam Hussein, despite that they hail from a different continent, according to the attorneys.
The case progressed quietly through the district court assembly line until the sistersgave a presentation at Westfield State University last month. They were invited by Kamal Ali, a professor there and vice president of the Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts.
The talk prompted a picketing at West Springfield High School, which drew dozens of college students and others.
School Superintendent Russell Johnston has said they cannot speak about specific cases of bullying allegations but that the system has strict anti-bullying policies. The sisters, on the other hand, has said school officials largely turned the other way.
Harris said he believes the sisters' Constitutional rights may have been violated including their rights to practice religion and free speech.
"This experience has been difficult for them; it's not necessarily been unique," he said.
Bruce Colton, a lawyer for Fajma Hussein, said outside court on Wednesday that attempts to settle the case before trial have failed.