TRENTON — One of Gov. Chris Christie’s nominees for Superior Court judge isn’t the typical judicial hopeful. The attorney doesn’t work for a big-name law firm. He holds a GED diploma. He practiced engineering for years before he thought about working in a courtroom. Sohail Mohammed, 47, an immigrant from southern India, however, does have experience in dealing with...
Halal foods, the Muslim equivalent for kosher foods, are now widely available in New Jersey. A landmark law passed to protect consumers buying halal food in the state. Sohail Mohammed, of Clifton, helped shape the law. In this 2003 file photo, Mohammed lunches at Meshwar, a halal restaurant that opened in Paterson.TRENTON — One of Gov. Chris Christie’s nominees for Superior Court judge isn’t the typical judicial hopeful.
The attorney doesn’t work for a big-name law firm. He holds a GED diploma. He practiced engineering for years before he thought about working in a courtroom.
Sohail Mohammed, 47, an immigrant from southern India, however, does have experience in dealing with law enforcement. Since graduating from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1993, Mohammed has risen to prominence as a key voice of the state’s Muslim community.
The regional office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation calls when questions arise about Muslim culture. He was a force behind passage of the state’s landmark halal food law in 2000, which pledged to help protect Muslim standards for food preparation. And in the aftermath of Sept. 11, he defended Muslim and Middle Eastern detainees swept up in the federal government’s dragnet.
Mohammed became a go-to source for local and national media seeking insight on how the Muslim-American community was affected by the response to the terrorist attacks.
And he caught Gov. Chris Christie’s attention, too.
“Sohail worked effectively and very appropriately with the U.S. Attorney’s Office (of New Jersey) and the FBI in bridging relations and providing outreach with the Muslim community,” said Michael Drewniak, spokesman for Gov. Christie. “And he did it at a time when federal law enforcement in New Jersey needed someone like him to do that.” But not everyone is praising Mohammed’s work.
Conservative bloggers and a well-known anti-terrorism advocate have blasted Christie for the nomination. They are concerned about the attorney’s public criticism of certain federal antiterrorism efforts and his representation of a local religious leader battling government accusations of terrorist ties.
THIRD CHANCE
Mohammed said he did not want to speak publicly before the confirmation process is complete. Gov. Christie formally nominated him earlier this year. The Senate Judiciary Committee will submit a recommendation on Mohammed’s appointment to the full Senate, which has final say on his and the other nominees’ futures. Often, that process isn’t smooth or quick. This is the third time Mohammed has started the tortuous route to join the state judiciary.
Sen. John Girgenti (D-Passaic) recommended him to Gov. Jon Corzine in 2007 for a Superior Court judgeship.
Mohammed didn’t make Corzine’s list. As the governor’s term neared its end last year, Corzine nominated Hany Mawla, a partner at the Iselin-based firm Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith and Davis, for a Superior Court position. Mawla, who served on the state Commission on Civil Rights and lectured on Middle East studies at Rutgers University, is considered the first Muslim Superior Court judge in New Jersey.
Gov. Christie gave Mohammed a second look last year. He nominated the Clifton attorney last fall, but the year ended without a Senate decision on the nominees, moving the governor to post Mohammed’s name again in January.
"It’s still not a smooth road going ahead. There will be some bumps along the way," said retired judge Robert J. Passero, who has mentored Mohammed over the length of his career. "He has a quiet confidence that it will work out."
FROM LAB TO COURT
Mohammed discovered his passion for law by a fluke.
At 17 years old, the youngest of four children, he immigrated to the United States with one of his brothers and his mother, who held a green card sponsored by a relative. Eight years later, Mohammed earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology.
While in school, he was called to jury duty in Judge Passero’s courtroom and served as foreman in the criminal case. The legal proceedings captured Mohammed’s interest. Several years later, Passero swore him in as an attorney.
Mohammed, who lives in Clifton with his wife and three school-aged sons, has operated a solo practice in Passaic County since then. It is a general civil law practice, though Mohammed’s passion is clearly for immigration and cultural matters.
In the crackdown that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Mohammed represented undocumented immigrants who were detained while federal agents reviewed their backgrounds.
He also represented a Muslim man who was questioned by security at Giants Stadium. Other fans raised concerns when they saw the man and his friends praying during a 2005 game, according to news reports of the incident.
"This is a classic example of ‘If you want to pray, you’ll have to pay,’" the Associated Press quoted Mohammed saying. "These folks were exercising their fundamental right to practice their faith, and they wanted to enjoy, as Americans, their favorite sport."
Mohammed also has forged close ties with New Jersey’s judicial and law enforcement communities.
His name has been passed to successive leaders of the FBI’s Newark office as a community contact, said Michael B. Ward, who currently heads the office. Mohammed became an important resource in the aftermath of Sept. 11, explaining nuances of Muslim cultures and organizing meetings between the FBI and Muslim leaders, he said.
"He has been of great assistance, working with us and bridging the gap" between law enforcement and the Muslim community, Ward said.
Passero said he has played a similar role for judges.
"There was a lot of mistrust, misunderstanding," Passero said. "He’s a positive force of good in trying to get people who might be unhappy with certain things to understand a different point of view."
In 2008, "New Jersey Monthly" named Mohammed one of the "101 most influential people in the Garden State."
CRITICS, ACCUSATIONS
Sohail Mohammed, a New Jersey immigration lawyer who represented scores of detainees caught up in the post-Sept. 11, 2001, dragnet, watches a video of the television series "24" at his office in Clifton in this 2007 file photo. Mohammed is among Muslims protesting their depiction as terrorists in "24."But not all are happy with Mohammed’s background.
The Investigative Project on Terrorism, a nonprofit that examines funding and operations of Islamic extremism, called Mohammed a "mouthpiece for radical Islamists" in an online post about his nomination.
They say their concerns are based on Mohammed’s criticism of domestic anti-terrorism strategies and his representation of a a religious leader battling deportation.
Sohail Mohammed served as attorney for Mohammad Qatanani, imam of the Islamic Center of Passaic County, while he applied for a green card, but the two ended the attorney-client relationship before his deportation case started. Qatanani hired another attorney, Claudia Slovinsky, to fight the deportation case in 2008.
The federal government accused the imam of failing to disclose an alleged conviction in Israel for ties to Hamas on his green card application. Qatanani denied any involvement with Hamas and won the case. But an appeals court has sent it back to the immigration judge, saying the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s evidence against the imam should be reconsidered.
Steven Emerson, founder of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, also cites Mohammed’s involvement in the New Jersey group American Muslim Union. Emerson criticizes the organization and Mohammed, who has served as its general counsel, for making statements against certain federal antiterrorism efforts after Sept. 11.
AMU founder Mohamed Younes did not return calls.
Emerson sparred with Mohammed in a 2003 episode of "The Abrams Report" on MSNBC over the indictment of then-University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian. Arian faced several charges related to involvement with a terrorist organization. Emerson called evidence that Arian was supporting terrorism "unambiguous." Mohammed called the case a "witch-hunt."
"It all points out to the distrust that the Muslim community have, which is this is nothing but a witch-hunt, this is nothing but a politically motivated indictment," he said.
Arian pled guilty to one count of conspiring to aid terrorists, according to court records. He was sentenced to the 57 months in prison, according to news reports.
"Views and statements that [Mohammed] has made are quite radical and would be counter to the views of a government" fighting terrorism, Emerson said.
Those who have worked with Mohammed in the legal and Muslim communities reject the accusations.
"There’s a process through which the truth will ultimately prevail. That’s the American way," said Asaad Siddiqi, president of New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association. "He’s articulate, compassionate, someone who understands where both sides are coming from."
By Simone Sebastian/The Star-Ledger