Muslim Woman Sues Judge Over Scarf

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (CN) - A Muslim woman says a Michigan judge violated her First Amendment right to religious freedom by telling her to remove her headscarf in his courtroom. Raneen Albaghdady, 32, says she felt humiliated when Wayne County Circuit Judge William Callahan ordered her to remove her hijab at a June 16 hearing in his Detroit courtroom. Many Muslim women wear the headscarf, which does not cover the face.

"This is the country and the land of freedom, and we're not supposed to be treated like this for the scarf," the Dearborn Heights woman said at a news conference Wednesday at the Southfield headquarters of the Council on American-Islamic Relation's Michigan chapter, which joined in the federal lawsuit against Callahan and Wayne County.

A courtroom video of the hearing shows Albaghdady appearing before Callahan wearing a loose headscarf.

"No hats allowed in the courtroom," Callahan told her.

"This one?" she asked, touching her scarf. "Ah, OK. It doesn't matter."

Albaghdady pushed back her headscarf for the rest of the hearing on her request to change her name. Callahan denied the request on technical grounds.

"Judge Callahan and the court have the greatest respect for spiritual practices and all religious preferences," Callahan said in a statement released by the court. "Had he been informed that the head covering had some religious significance, the judge would have permitted Ms. Albaghdady to continue wearing it in court."

Albaghdady, a native of Iraq, said Wednesday that she was intimidated by Callahan and feared she would be arrested if she refused to remove her hijab.

"I come from a country where you can't say no to a judge in a courtroom," she said.

Some Muslims believe Islamic law requires women to wear a headscarf, veil or burqa in the presence of a man who is not a close relative.

Albaghdady asks the Federal Court to order judges in Wayne County to allow the wearing of the headscarf in court.

Wayne County, which includes Detroit, is home to one of the nation's largest Muslim populations.

In another situation involving veils, the Michigan Supreme Court on June 17 voted to give judges wide authority over the appearance of witnesses. The rule was adopted after a Muslim woman refused to remove her niqab, or face veil, while testifying in a 2006 small-claims case. Hamtramck District Judge Paul Paruk dismissed Ginnnah Muhammad's case as a result.

Albaghdady appeared before Callahan the day before the state Supreme Court approved the rule. Her lawsuit does not challenge it or address the issue of face veils, said her attorney, Nabih Ayad.

"That's for a later case," he said.

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