Muslim Woman Sues Police For Forcing Her To Remove Head Scarf While In Custody
According to the Detroit News, a Muslim woman is suing the Dearborn Heights Police Department because she believes her rights were "stripped at the jailhouse door" last year when she was forced to remove her hijab (religious head scarf) while in custody.
According to her lawsuit (which was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court), on July 9, police stopped Malak Kazan for a traffic violation and arrested her for a traffic misdemeanor because she was driving with a suspended license.
While officers were booking her, they asked her to remove her hijab, which "the tenets of Islam require for "covering her hair, ears, neck and part of her chest when she is in public and when she is in the presence of men who are not members of her immediate family," the suit said.
The prisoner told an officer that she could not remove the head covering because that would violate her faith. The officer replied, "there were no exceptions," the court filing stated.
Kazan felt he constitutional rights were violated and she suffered "severe discomfort, humiliation and emotional distress."
My thought? Once you break the law and are arrested, your religious rights end at the jailhouse door — that includes all religions.
Do we need to start carving our exceptions for every single religion out there?
Should male Sikks be able to bring their daggars into prison, because it is a part of their religious rights?
What are your thoughts?
Please leave your comments to let me know.