The Minnesota airport is having a problem with Somali Muslim immigrant cab drivers refusing fares that have alcohol in their possesion due to a religious ban on transporting alcohol.

Hogan said the first refusals to carry alcohol began 10 years ago, but came from just a handful of drivers. Now, though, he estimates that three-quarters of the 900 airport cabdrivers are Somali, most of them Muslim. Hogan said drunken passengers haven't had trouble getting a cab, just the ones who let on that they're carrying a bottle.

Cabbies don't like being put in the position of turning away fares, and passengers don't like being left standing at the taxi stand, waiting for the next taxi.

"It's slowly grown over the years to the point that it's become a significant customer service issue for us," he said.

The story is a couple months old and I heard a snipit about it at the time, but this is the first article I've read on it.

Much in the same way that I don't believe the state ought to force pharmacists to sell birth control pills, cabbies should not be required to take on customers that they have a religious issue with -- provided that ethnic-bias is not a factor.

The only hang-up here is whether or not there are a limited number of cabbies given access to the airport. as some at RedState.org suggest*. If that's the case, then whether or not the cabbie allows alcohol on board should be a factor in whether or not their access is renewed or given to someone with no such moral dilemma the same way that a pharmacy should be able to fire a pharmacist that won't do his or her job at the pharmacy sees it.

Really, though, that's probably not a good idea. Putting aside for the moment that an overwhelming majority of the cabbies are Muslim and that it could cause a strike, most of the time it wouldn't be an issue. Since most people coming out of an airport don't have alcohol, allowing certain cabbies to pass up those passengers that do strikes me as a reasonable acommodation.

One possible solution here would be to alot 40% of the licenses to cabbies that are willing to carry alcohol. That would apply some pressure to get cabbies to reconsider their stance (because it would make getting the license easier) while not prohibiting cabbies from following their consciences.

Ultimately, I don't think that taxi transportation with alcohol is more of a right than is the ability to follow through with ones religious convictions.

The cabbies and the airport did reach a compromise:

Now, the airport and cab drivers have worked out a proposal that calls for cabdrivers who won't carry alcohol to have a cab light that's a different color. That way, the airport workers who hook up travelers with taxis can steer alcohol-carrying fares to cabs that will take them. Airport officials hope to have the new lights ready by the end of the year.

Cabdrivers who want the lights will have to pay for them, though airport spokesman Pat Hogan said the cost will be minimal. Cabbies without the light who refuse fares will be sent to the back of line - often a three-hour wait until it's their turn again for a fare.

The only concern I have about this deal is that it may be putting an undo burden on the airport, depending on how much extra "steering" would be required. I don't have enough information on that. Chances are it's not significant, though an alternative (that's a bit too late to implement now) would have been to add a relatively light fee for the special lights to compensate for whatever costs are generated for the required steering.

* - The people at RedState are trying to draw a distinction between the birth control pills and Muslim cabbies because the latter has to get privileges while the former just needs a license. I think that's a bit of a stretch, though if the airport itself were making that argument I would give it more weight. I think what it ultimately comes down to is the belief of some that immigrants ought to be held to a higher standard than native born Americans when it comes to conformity. This is not a wholly irrational idea as the site of an American burning an American flag, for instance, and an immigrant from a hostile nation envoke two very different images. However, I think that by taking this stance they are ultimately weakening the pharmacist's ability to refuse prescriptions that they have a moral issue with, be it birth control pills today or abortion or suicide pills tomorrow.