(WASHINGTON, D.C., 7/21/23) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, is calling on the University of Kentucky Police Department and the Lexington-Fayette Division of Community Corrections to launch a transparent investigation of the alleged mistreatment of a Muslim woman who was detained over a minor issue and refused the right to wear her Islamic head scarf, or hijab, in detention.
All charges against the woman were dismissed prior to an arraignment yesterday.
That Muslim woman, an immigrant physician of Iraqi heritage, reports that she was stopped Monday night by University of Kentucky police allegedly because she did not have her headlights on.
She told CAIR she was taken to jail because of an issue related to a late registration from a couple years ago, which she said she delayed due to COVID. She was reportedly handcuffed and held for hours and forced to take her hijab off for the booking photo. The Muslim woman reports that she was asked several times what her religion is.
In a statement, the woman said: “Once the handcuffs were put on they wanted to search me and asked me to take off my headscarf. This was not done in a private room, this was done in the public hall where everybody could see me. I refused this and requested that this would happen in a more private place. I was then brought to another room which had a window door and put on a toilet were there was a half wall which would still not cover my head. I was forced to sit bent over for a long time which I couldn’t hold very long. Then I used my dress as a headscarf to be able to sit straight and without back pain….I truly feel terrorized, terrified and abused by those officers”
She says she was never told she was under arrest and does not recall being read her Miranda rights. Ultimately, she was released on $100 bond, which she says was taken out of her purse.
In a letter sent earlier this week to University of Kentucky Police Department
Chief Joseph Monroe and Chief of Corrections Colonel Scott Colvin, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said in part:
“We respectfully request that your agencies investigate this reported incident involving [the detained Muslim woman] and establish clear policies permitting people of faith to keep their hijabs and other religiously required hair coverings on while in detention.”
He noted that CAIR offers both a “Law Enforcement Official’s Guide to The Muslim Community” and “A Correctional Institution’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices” designed to prevent such incidents from occurring.
Mitchell added that CAIR has intervened in a number of such cases to defend the religious rights of detainees.
Earlier this year, CAIR’s New jersey chapter welcomed the New Jersey Department of Corrections’ (NJDOC) new policy allowing incarcerated people to wear religious head coverings for intake mugshots that are publicly available.
In 2022, CAIR’s Michigan chapter settled three similar lawsuits for Muslim women who were forced to remove their hijab for identification photos, one against the city of Detroit and a second one against the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC), the third against the City of Ferndale.
Video: CAIR-MI Files Notice of Claim Against Sheriff’s Office for Hijab Removal During Booking Photo
In 2021, CAIR’s New York chapter announced a settlement that ended the Yonkers Police Department’s discriminatory “hijab removal” policy.
In 2018, CAIR’s Greater Los Angeles Area office announced a settlement with Ventura County and the county’s Sheriff’s Office on behalf of a Muslim woman who had her religious head scarf (hijab) removed by Ventura County sheriff’s deputies while in custody.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com