Chief justice of state's highest court once again has to reassure Muslims and immigrants that they have rights here

For the fourth year in a row today, Ralph Gants, chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, joined member of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury for their mid-day prayers. In remarks after the prayers, Gants said:

I come each year because it is the clearest way I know to communicate the continued commitment of the judiciary to protect your constitutional rights, and the rights of every resident in this Commonwealth, citizen and non-citizen, regardless of religion, skin color, or national origin. I would like to believe that there will come a time when you no longer need to be reassured of that commitment, when you can be confident that the rights of Muslims in this country will be honored and respected by those in power in our nation's capital, when only a handful of people on the fringe proclaim hate and ignorance. But that time is not yet here, so I continue to come.