Muslim Woman Files Lawsuit Against Police For Forcing Her To Remove Hijab During Mugshot
By Brian Carey, January 24, 2015.
Meanwhile, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan…
A Muslim woman has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the the local police department forced her to remove her hijab for a mugshot.
Malak Kazan, 27, claims that the police violated her religious freedom.
After a traffic stop, she was taken into custody because she had outstanding warrants for failure to appear in court after she let her driver’s license expire.
“Your religious freedoms are not stripped at the jailhouse door,” said her attorney, Amir Makled. “It’s part of the cannons of their faith to wear a head scarf. For her to have it removed in front of a non-relative male, would be a non-pleasant experience for her.”
The police department stands by its decision.
“Articles such as hats, caps, hijabs, can contain concealable items that could pose a threat or chance of injury to the cops or to themselves,” said Dearborn Heights Police Chief Lee Garvin.
Makled disagrees.
“At this point she is only doing a booking photograph,” he said. “They can’t get in here and say officer safety. It’s a booking photo. It’s used for identity purposes only.”
The suit also alleges that there were no female officers present when Kazan was booked.
“Our procedure is to have them take the hijab off in the presence of a female,” Garvin said. “We don’t always have enough female officers present in the station. Our No. 1 concern is security of our officers and the prisoners.”
Larry Dubin is a professor at the University of Detroit Law School. He thinks that Kazan has a good case.
“The First Amendment guarantees religious freedom,” he said. “She is entitled to wear the hijab and not have it taken off unless there is a more state compelling interest that needs to be satisfied.”
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