A Southern Californian county will be wary of the religious rights of anyone they arrest after having to pay $45,000 in damages for violating the rights of a Muslim woman by making her remove her hijab or headscarf in public.
Last week the county signed a settlement agreement in which they agreed to provide a private space for arrested Muslim women to remove their headscarves and to provide them with county issued scarves to cover their heads when they are in the presence of men.
Jameelah Medina, arrested in Pomona for having an invalid train pass, felt humiliated to have to remove her headscarf in front of a male deputy which she was forced into doing despite informing him that it violated her religious beliefs. After the attorney fee, Jameelah will receive $10,000 of damages.
Pic courtesy Claudius Prößer from flickr.com
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