High Court Agrees: Landlord Who Pushed Muslim Tenant Must Take Class On Islam

Massachusetts' highest court has upheld a sentence imposed on a Somerville landlord convicted of pushing a Muslim tenant down the stairs, including a requirement that she take a class on Islam.

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled Wednesday in the case of Daisy Obi, a Christian minister from Nigeria.

A judge sentenced Obi to two years in jail, but said she would only have to serve six months and ordered her to attend a class on Islam.

Obi's lawyer said requiring Obi to take the class violated her free exercise of religion. The high court did not rule directly on Obi's objections to the class requirement, but waived that claim because she never raised that objection at trial.

Obi's tenant complained that Obi taunted her with anti-Muslim remarks before pushing her.