The Council on American-Islamic Relations for New York (CAIR-NY), along with Kaufman Lieb Lebowitz & Frick LLP, on Thursday sued Orange County, New York, officials for religious discrimination against plaintiff Tammi Green. The 27-page complaint outlines multiple instances where county jail officials are alleged to have violated Green’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

According to the complaint, Green was forced to remove her hijab for her booking photo and her photo identification card. The latter is pinned to the inmates’ jumpsuits and is presented to personnel every day to access all checkpoints and programs within the facility. Despite countless efforts to beg officials to let her keep her hijab on, Green states that she was prohibited from wearing it for more than 12 hours as she awaited arraignment. Although Green was permitted to take a new photo wearing her hijab “after several months of daily humiliation,” the thought of the old photo remaining in the system, where officials continue to view it every day, continues to cause her great harm.

The allegations also speak of occasions where facility officials “confiscated Green’s hijab and other religious items and refused to return them.” During a search of her cell, Green found that her misbahah, prayer beads often used by Muslims, had been destroyed, and in a subsequent search, her Quran was “tossed to the ground.” Moreover, the complaint asserts that Green was denied religious meals multiple times, specifically during Ramadan, during which inmates are allowed to apply for a modified meal schedule. This was particularly concerning for Green since she has Type 2 diabetes, and regular mealtimes during fasting are crucial in maintaining stable blood sugar levels.

Finally, the complaint emphasizes Green’s extreme “depression, overwhelming grief, and frequent emotional breakdowns that left her…confused about her faith and how to live her life.” In a press release, Green stated that because she was deprived of her hijab on so many occasions, she was “unable to pray” for herself and her family, including her mother, “who was dying from stage four cancer.” She said that she felt “traumatized and had a crisis of faith because of what happened.”

A CAIR-NY staff attorney said that “correctional officers are not above the law” and that “the right of incarcerated people to practice their religion must be respected.” Green asks for a trial by jury, seeking compensatory and punitive damages and injunctions to enjoin officials from committing repeat offenses.

Relatedly in 2010, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that police officers did not violate a Muslim woman’s religious rights by forcing her to remove her hijab. In 2020, a Virginia prison changed its clothing policies to allow religious head coverings. Whether prohibiting religious head coverings in prisons is constitutional remains to be observed.

Source: Jurist news