A Muslim woman in Minnesota has received $120,000 after allegedly being asked to remove her hijab to take a booking photo at a prison.
In 2013, Aida Shyef Al-Kadi turned herself in after a warrant was issued for her arrest because of a missed court hearing over a traffic ticket she received while driving her daughter to hospital.
But she described her treatment in custody at Ramsey County Jail as “one of the most humiliating and harmful experiences” of her life, while appearing with her attorneys at the Minneapolis headquarters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Al-Kadi said in a lawsuit that she was told to remove her hijab and abaya, in front of male jailers. When she objected, she was moved to a holding cell, where she took off her hijab in front of a male jailer.
She allegedly agreed to take off her headscarf for the booking photo, on the condition it would never be released to the public. But found it months later on a third-party website that charges users a fee to remove mugshots.
Officers gave Al-Kadi a bedsheet to use as a hijab, and she was told to remove her abaya and change into a jail uniform in front of two female officers.
Ramsey county policy says that misdemeanour inmates such as Al-Kadi “will not be viewed without clothing”, according to court records.
Under the settlement, the jail has imposed rules about how to deal with inmates with religious headwear when taking booking photos.
The county also agreed to destroy all hard copies and delete any electronic copies of Al-Kadi’s booking photo.
The settlement does not require the county to admit wrongdoing.
Ramsey County Board Chair Jim McDonough, said in a statement on Tuesday: "We believe that this settlement agreement is fair and in the best interests of all of our residents.
"Ramsey county’s values hold that the rights, beliefs, well-being and dignity of all our residents are protected and honoured in all aspects of what we do.
"The practices outlined in the agreement to improve the booking process for those with religious head coverings better reflect these values."
Ramsey County adapted its jail policies in 2014 to provide jail-approved hijabs.
