GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A lawsuit filed by a Muslim woman against the Oceana County Sheriff's Department after she was told to remove her hijab when she was booked into jail has been dropped.
Monday, a U.S. District Court judge in Grand Rapids signed an order of dismissal in the case that said the parties involved were dropping claims without cost. The suit was dismissed with prejudice, which means it cannot be refiled.
Fatme Dakroub, a U.S. citizen who was living in the United Arab Emirates at the time, said that she was arrested for speeding in Oceana County in May 2015 while she was there visiting family. She said male deputies who booked her into the jail told her to remove her hijab, the head scarf she wears in accordance with her religious beliefs. She told them she couldn't do that in front of men to whom she's not related and asked for a woman to handle the booking. She said she was told that was not possible.
She filed a federal lawsuit[1] against the sheriff's department in June 2015, saying her religious rights had been violated.
In its response to the suit[2], the sheriff's office said it didn't violate Dakroub's rights. It said the county considers long scarves a security concern and that policy applies to everyone, so it's not discriminatory. It also said Dakroub was also not wearing her hijab in her driver's license photo.
References
- ^ filed a federal lawsuit (woodtv.com)
- ^ response to the suit (woodtv.com)
Source → Suit surrounding hijab removal in jail dismissed
