In a major blow to the federal
government, a judge in Detroit has declared America's female genital
mutilation law unconstitutional, thereby dismissing the key charges
against two Michigan doctors and six others accused of subjecting at
least nine minor girls to the cutting procedure in the nation's first
FGM case.
The historic case
involves minor girls from Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota, including
some who cried, screamed and bled during the procedure and one who was
given Valium ground in liquid Tylenol to keep her calm, court records
show.
The judge's ruling also dismissed charges
against three mothers, including two Minnesota women whom prosecutors
said tricked their 7 -year-old daughters into thinking they were coming
to metro Detroit for a girls' weekend, but instead had their genitals
cut at a Livonia clinic as part of a religious procedure.
