New York City mosques get extra protection during Ramadan

NEW YORK

Mosques get extra Ramadan patrols

The New York Police Department will increase foot patrols at mosques during Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting that begins in August, amid a rise this year in the number of hate crimes against Muslims.

"I know this is the most sacred time of the year for the Muslim faith," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Tuesday at a news conference attended by about 400 people, including leaders of the Muslim community. "Our goal at the department is that you are able to experience it in safety and in peace."

New York City has more than 100 mosques, compared with 10 in 1970, said Philip Banks III, chief of the department's Community Affairs Bureau. Ramadan starts Aug. 11 and ends Sept. 9.

-- Bloomberg News

UTAH

Polygamist leader granted new trial

Utah's Supreme Court tossed out the sexual-abuse conviction of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs and ordered a new trial on charges that he forced a 14-year-old girl to marry her first cousin.

The court ruled Tuesday that Jeffs's trial judge had erred by failing to tell jurors that they could not render a guilty verdict unless they determined that Jeffs knew unwanted sex would occur.

Jeffs is considered the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or the FLDS, a polygamist sect that has an estimated 10,000 followers in Utah, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, South Dakota and British Columbia. He was sentenced in November 2007 to a term of 10 years to life in prison for two felony convictions on charges he was an accomplice to rape.