Legal News

Headscarf case to be reheard by Ninth Circuit

By Richard Binder

Yesterday the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to decide en banc whether Orange County Sheriff?s Department officers violated Souhair Khatib's constitutional rights by making her remove her hijab for security reasons while she was being held in a courthouse holding facility.

In May a panel of the Ninth Circuit ruled 2-1 in favor of the officers, and that Khatib's claim under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act did not apply to courthouse holding facilities. Becki Kieffer, Khatib's lawyer, argued that the majority in that ruling had misinterpreted the law.

Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, who had dissented in that decision, said in a brief order that a majority of the judges agreed to the en banc review. The case is set for a rehearing in December.

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Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on September 14, 2010 (boomark / email).