(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/29/23) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today announced the filing of a lawsuit in partnership with Roula Allouch of Bricker Graydon against Warren Country Regional Jail in Bowling Green, Kentucky, for depriving a Muslim woman of her religious rights by forcing her to remove her hijab, taking a booking photograph without it and allowing the photo to remain publicly available on its website.
The woman was also subjected to an unnecessary full-body strip search that was filmed and projected on a TV screen for all those present in the jail lobby to see.
CAIR’s lawsuit states in part:
“All incarcerees and their religious beliefs are entitled to basic respect and certainly privacy, particularly Muslim women whose modesty is not just a personal conviction but a religious obligation.”
The lawsuit “aims to have Warren County Regional Jail implement a policy change prohibiting it and its officers from taking booking photographs of Muslim women without their hijab, and to order Defendants to destroy the publicly available image of Mrs. Doe from their database and any security footage that captured her without her hijab during her time at their facility.” Furthermore, “to enjoin Warren County Regional Jail and its officers from engaging in public, unnecessary strip searches of any individual.”
READ THE FULL COMPLAINT.
“Every moment that photo remains on Warren County Regional Jail’s website perpetuates the harm and anguish suffered by Mrs. Doe. It is a permanent record and consistent reminder of the violations to Mrs. Doe’s privacy and religious beliefs,” said CAIR Legal Fellow Aya Beydoun. “To make matters worse, we believe the Jail still has the recording of her strip search in their records.”
CAIR offers an educational toolkit, called “A Correctional Institution’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices,” to help correctional officers and administrators gain a better understanding of Islam and Muslims.
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.
END
CONTACT: CAIR Trial Attorney Saad Gul, 202-742-6420, sgul@cair.com; CAIR Legal Fellow Aya Beydoun, 202-742-6420, abeydoun@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com