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Jail Booking Photo Without Hijab Approved Reluctantly

By Howard M. Friedman

In a Boulder County, Colorado court, a judge has denied a request by a Muslim University of Colorado student to have her jail booking photo taken wearing a headscarf. The Boulder (CO) Daily Camera reported yesterday that Maria Hardman was sentenced to two days on a work crew for driving her scooter while under the influence of alcohol. When she reported to jail, authorities insisted she remove her hijab for her booking photo. She refused and her attorney filed in court for relief. The judge concluded that the jail's offer to allow her to have her photo taken in a private room accompanied only by a female staff member was a sufficient accommodation of her religious beliefs.  At the same time, the judge urged the sheriff's office to "reexamine whether their legitimate interests in recording useful identifying information and images of this defendant for this work crew sentence would truly he compromised by allowing her to take the booking photo with her scarf above her hairline and not obscuring her face."

Full post as published by Religion Clause on December 15, 2010 (boomark / email).