New York City taxpayers on the hook for at least $180,000 after three Muslim criminals complained about having to take their hijabs off during their mugshots. Settlements in all three cases were filed Monday.
In 2012 a Brooklyn schoolgirl was arrested after a brief scuffle with a few other girls. The criminal case was dropped but the drama surrounding her mugshot fed a massive lawsuit that was only resolved this week.
After she was arrested, the girl was told to remove her hijab for her mugshot. There were no female officers around so she was forced to free her hair in the presence of men.
She complained bitterly.
According to the New York Daily News, “in March 2015, police issued an order that changed the rules when people refused to take off religious head coverings. Arresting officers had to tell the person they had the choice of getting a private photo — without the head covering, and with an officer of the same gender.”
The “distraught” high school girl’s lawyer filed two similar cases in 2015 and 2016.
One of the women complained that she had to remove her hijab after she was booked. Another said her hijab came off during a squabble with her neighbor over a parking spot.
Those are the women that the city settled with, each receiving a fat $60,000. Three criminals who complained about their headscarves.
“We did our best to establish good precedent,” the women’s lawyer, Tahanie Aboushi, said. “On the one hand, it gives officers guidance, and on the other hand, it protects the exercise of religious freedom.”
Muslim activists will be pleased. Hijabs are controversial, a lot of people view them as signs of oppression. In parts of Europe, they’ve begun banning the garment from government grounds.
Americans, meanwhile, are trending the opposite way.
(Source: New York Daily News)