Constitutional Law

9th Circuit revives Muslim woman's headscarf lawsuit

By By The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO ? A federal appeals court yesterday unanimously reinstated a lawsuit filed by a Muslim woman who accused Southern California jailers of violating her religious freedom when they ordered her to take off her headscarf in a courthouse holding cell.

An 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also said in Khatib v. County of Orange that plaintiff Souhair Khatib had the right to wear the hijab, or headscarf, unless jailers could show it was a security risk.

Khatib filed the lawsuit in 2007 against Orange County. She had been jailed for several hours in November 2006 after a judge revoked her probation for a misdemeanor welfare fraud conviction.

A federal trial court judge and a three-judge 9th Circuit panel previously dismissed the lawsuit, saying holding cells aren't covered by the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, a federal law that among other provisions, protects the religious practices of prisoners.

Those courts held that it was impractical in transitory settings such as a holding cell to honor religious practices normally allowed in more permanent institutions such as prisons.

But yesterday, the 11-judge 9th Circuit panel rejected that argument while allowing the case to proceed.

The court did say the county can still argue that security concerns required Khatib to remove her headscarf, if it can prove the order "was the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling government interest."

Khatib and her husband had appeared in Orange County Superior Court to ask for an extension of a deadline to complete community service, which was a requirement of their probation. They were jailed in a cell adjacent to the courthouse.

During booking, jailers ordered a tearful Khatib to remove her headscarf, and she spent the rest of her time in the cell covering her head with a vest.

Probation was reinstated later the same day.

Full post as published by First Amendment Center on March 15, 2011 (boomark / email).