Southfield, MI – An Islamic group says it will file a federal lawsuit against a Wayne County judge who ordered a Muslim woman to remove her head scarf.
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“No hats allowed in the courtroom,” Wayne Circuit Judge J. William Callahan is heard telling Raneen Albaghdady in a partial video of the June incident posted on YouTube.
The incident, during a hearing on the woman’s application to change her name, follows a 2006 controversy when a Hamtramck judge ordered Ginnah Muhammad to remove her facial veil, called a niqab, in court.
Unlike an Islamic veil, a head scarf, called a hijab, mostly covers the hair, not the eyes or face, which some judges say they need to see to assess credibility.
“This is a lady whose face was fully visible, Canton Township attorney Nabih Ayad said today of Albaghdady. “There was no reason to tell her to remove her scarf.”
Callahan did not immediately return a telephone message left at his chambers.
The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations will join the woman as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, in which Callahan and the county will be named as defendants, Ayad said. The lawsuit is to be detailed at a 2 p.m. news conference today at the council’s office in Southfield.
Melanie Elturk, a staff attorney at the council, said Callahan’s actions violate the constitutional right to freedom of religion and a statement President Barack Obama made in a June address about the right of Muslim women to wear the hijab.
“This judge targeted a Muslim woman’s religious attire, but he could just as easily have demanded the removal of a Sikh turban, a Jewish yarmulke or a Catholic nun’s habit,” she said.
The niqab covers most of the face and makes identification difficult or impossible. A judge or anyone else who has to verify identity is within his or her rights to ask that it be removed.
The hijab covers the hair like a snood, hat or wig. There is no reason for the judge to demand that it be removed.
What if it was an orthodox Jewish woman and the judge demanded that she take off her sheitel, or snood, or other head covering?
Interesting to know how are woman plaintiff or witness dressed in front of a judge in Muslim court. Are they trying to be more religious in america?
UGH!! I am all for outlawing Niqab in US. If they want to wear that they can go back to where they are from!! Makes me angry that the judge is getting sued for doing something that is right! I hope that one day US will make wearing Hijab and Niqab illegal all over the country. The insanity needs to stop!!
My religion demands that I wear a mask over my face or a huge black hat covering most of my head. Even a yarmulke is not allowed in court. If you cover your face,you have no identification.
The judge can order as he wishes and he doesn’t need to say why. The judge is right to demand that she remove her headwear or wig regardless of her preferences .
If she refuses, she should be held in contempt.
that is the exact reason we wear a wig. It looks like hair they would not aske us to remove it they wouldnt know nething is on our head.
separation of church and state – in court its state property and religion can not be exercised!
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The judge can order as he wishes and he doesn’t need to say why. The judge is right to demand that she remove her headwear or wig regardless of her preferences .
If she refuses, she should be held in contempt.
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Not Exactly, a judge can do as he wishes, but that is not in his best interest. There is a thing called the law and higher courts hate you wasting time on not knowing the law. So most smart judges try to know the extent of the law. The case wouldn’t have been accepted if it had no merit.
What you have here is a dumb judge that is going to get slapped for exceeding his powers beyond what he had no reasoable expectation not to know.