Lawsuit filed over forced removal of religious headscarves and booking photos taken during wrongful arrest at peaceful protest
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today announced the filing of a federal civil rights lawsuit against Oregon’s Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office for forcibly removing the Islamic headscarves (hijabs) of two Muslim women who are sisters and photographing them without their religious head coverings while in custody.
“Forcing these young women to remove their hijabs was a clear violation of their dignity and religious freedom,” said CAIR Deputy Litigation Director Gadeir Abbas. “It is unacceptable that the county still retains these violative photographs.”
“Protecting Muslim women doesn’t require complex policies or major resources—it simply requires basic respect,” said CAIR Staff Attorney Aya Beydoun. “A private room, a female officer, and simply allowing them to wear their hijabs in the photo would have prevented this entirely. The law demands better, and so should we.”
CAIR’s lawsuit seeks declaratory relief, damages, destruction of the photographs, and an order requiring Multnomah County to adopt policies protecting the religious rights of Muslim women in custody.
Earlier this week, CAIR announced the filing of a federal lawsuit on behalf of three incarcerated Muslim men challenging the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) for its systemic denial of religious accommodations.
BACKGROUNDER:
According to the complaint, sisters Serine Abuelhawa and Marjannah Hassan were arrested during a peaceful pro-Palestine protest at last year’s Portland Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade.
The sisters were reportedly crowded into a police van with other protesters and taken to Multnomah County Detention Center where they were separated. During booking, both sisters were forced to remove their religious headscarves in the presence of male officers, despite their repeated objections and religious beliefs prohibiting exposure in front of men outside their immediate family.
They were then allegedly photographed without their hijabs. Although all charges against them were ultimately dismissed, the booking photos—taken in violation of their religious rights—remain in law enforcement databases. The lawsuit alleges that these actions violated their rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as federal civil rights statutes protecting religious freedom.
Carceral facilities across the country—at the local, state, and federal levels—routinely allow Muslim women to wear their hijabs while in custody, including in booking photographs. There is no logical reason why Multnomah County should be any different.
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: Gadeir Abbas, CAIR Deputy Litigation Director, (202) 742-6420, gabbas@cair.com; Aya Beydoun, CAIR Staff Attorney, (202) 742-6449, abeydoun@cair.com; Athul Acharya, Public Accountability Attorney, 503-383-9492, athul@pubaccountability.org; 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