NYC To Pay $17.5M For Forcing Women to Remove Hijabs
New York City has agreed to pay $17.5M to settle a lawsuit filed by two Muslim women who claimed they were 'exposed and violated' when police forced them to remove their hijabs to have their mugshots taken....
Facts
- New York City has agreed to pay $17.5M to settle a lawsuit filed by two Muslim women who claimed they were 'exposed and violated' when police forced them to remove their hijabs to have their mugshots taken.1
- Jamilla Clark and Arwa Aziz sued the city in 2018, alleging that officers of the New York Police Department (NYPD) made them take off their religious head coverings in front of dozens of male cops and inmates.2
- Clark and Aziz's attorneys argued that the police policy of forcing women to remove hijabs for mug shots violated their rights to privacy and religious freedoms.3
- Initially, the city had defended the policy, arguing it balanced respect for religious customs with 'the legitimate law enforcement need to take arrest photos.'4
- However, the NYPD changed the policy in 2020, allowing arrested suspects to retain their hijabs during mug shots as long as their faces could be seen.5
- More than 3.6K people arrested from March 2014 to August 2021 are eligible for settlement pay-outs. Each plaintiff could receive between $7K to $13K.6
Sources: 1Reuters, 2Associated Press, 3BBC News, 4Washington Post, 5The Telegraph and 6Guardian.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by The National. Forcing muslim women to be photographed without their religious head coverings violates their privacy and deeply held spiritual beliefs, and is akin to a strip search. By stripping the women of their hijabs, the NYPD didn't just assault their dignity but also the very values the city claims to stand for. It's time the police department is held accountable for violating New Yorkers' First Amendment rights.
- Narrative B, as provided by CNN. The lawsuit highlights the gulf between criminal justice policy and the religious obligations of suspects in police custody. However, it resulted in a positive reform and will likely restore New Yorkers' trust in the police department. The city remains sensitive toward the Muslim-American community and is committed to ensuring that effective identification of arrestees isn't reliant on the removal of religious head coverings.
