Georgia Muslim Jailed Over Head Scarf

Comment #8

PeacefulMan — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 02:36:54 GMT

~ Peace

Comment #7

jarasan — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:33:07 GMT

<br

Comment #6

Litebets27 — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 03:10:12 GMT

The U.S. Federal Court has a policy to take persons who wear religious garb aside in a private room to be searched. This includes Muslims, Orthodox Jews, Armish and anyone else that wear clothing that covers the body more than normal. unless they are criminals that are required to wear the prison issued jumpsuits, the person is usually allowed to continue wearing their garb after the person is searched thoroughly.

Comment #5

NBey6 — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:46:10 GMT

If this is not an across the board "law" then she and her spouse should sue. The bailiff was clearly in the wrong in aprehending her that's why they let her go. She was not in the court room because the bailiff didn't allow her in. I would take to it to the high Court.

Comment #4

emilyg — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:18:59 GMT

No one is above the law.

Comment #3

justxploring — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:37:15 GMT

I disagree that "they screwed up." In the United States we have Freedom of Religion, but it doesn't mean that that freedom includes breaking the law. Our security comes first and, if she didn't agree with the law (which applies to everyone & does not discriminate) she should have stayed home.

Comment #2

Litebets27 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:17:24 GMT

Oh boy! Ignorance is everywhere.

Comment #1

PeacefulMan — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:11:05 GMT

They knew they probably screwed up and that's why they released her after 4 hours.

Original Blog Entry: Georgia Muslim Jailed Over Head Scarf

NBey6 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:00:34 GMT

Ga. Muslim jailed over head scarf

Ga. resident refused to remove hijab at court's security checkpoint

The Associated Press

updated 11:30 a.m. ET, Wed., Dec. 17, 2008

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. - A judge ordered a Muslim woman arrested Tuesday for contempt of court for refusing to take off her head scarf at a security checkpoint.

The judge ordered Lisa Valentine, 40, to serve 10 days in jail, said police in Douglasville, a city of about 20,000 people on Atlanta's west suburban outskirts.

Valentine violated a court policy that prohibits people from wearing any headgear in court, police said.

The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations urged federal authorities to investigate the incident as well as others in Georgia.

I just felt stripped of my civil, my human rights, Valentine told The Associated Press on Wednesday from her home, after she said she was unexpectedly released once CAIR got involved. Jail officials declined to say why she was freed.

No comment from judge

Municipal Court Judge Keith Rollins said that it would not be appropriate for him to comment on the case.

Last year, a judge in Valdosta in southern Georgia barred a Muslim woman from entering a courtroom because she would not remove her head scarf. There have been similar cases in other states, including Michigan, where a Muslim woman in Detroit filed a federal lawsuit in February 2007 after a judge dismissed her small-claims court case when she refused to remove a head and face veil.

Valentine's husband, Omar Hall, said his wife was accompanying her nephew to a traffic citation hearing when officials stopped her at the metal detector and told her she would not be allowed in the courtroom with the head scarf, known as a hijab.

Hall said Valentine, an insurance underwriter, told the bailiff that she had been in courtrooms before with the scarf on and that removing it would be a religious violation. When she turned to leave and uttered an expletive, Hall said a bailiff handcuffed her and took her before the judge.

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