Muslim women’s head coverings were forcibly removed by jailers after California protest, lawsuit alleges

Two Muslim women who allege their religious head coverings were forcibly removed when they were arrested and booked into jail after taking part in a pro-Palestinian protest at UC Irvine have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Orange County Sheriff’s Department of violating their religious freedom.

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Civil rights attorneys during a news conference on Tuesday morning at the Anaheim office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations described the alleged forced removal of the women’s hijabs as a violation of both their deeply held religious beliefs as well as their rights under state and federal law.

Salma Nasoordeen and Shenai Aini were “swept up” with dozens of other protesters during the protests at UCI on May 15, 2024, their attorneys said, before being taken to the Intake Release Center at the Central Jail Complex in Santa Ana. While spending several “grueling hours at the mercy of sheriff’s deputies,” the two women were “repeatedly commanded to remove their hijabs, the attorneys added.

“This stripped them of something far more sacred than fabric,” said Dina Chehata, a civil rights attorney with CAIR-LA. “For Muslim women who cover their bodies and hair, the hijab is an act of worship. It is a sign of their submission to God. It is a shield of dignity. And it is a sincerely held religious belief that is not optional or decorative…

“It is not for the state to decide when it (a hijab) can be removed,” Chehata added. “Our laws are clear, people do not shed their religious rights when they are arrested. They don’t become less worthy of respect because they dissent. And they are not required to surrender their faith at the jailhouse doors.”

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department, in a statement released in response to the lawsuit, denied the allegations, stating that the department upholds individuals’ rights to protest lawfully and peacefully, as well as the First Amendment right to religious freedom.

The department alleged that the “account of events” provided at the news conference held by the plaintiffs’ attorneys on Tuesday were “misleading and inaccurate.”

Aini, speaking during the news conference, described a law enforcement officer ripping her hijab off and stomping on it while taking her into custody in an arrest that was carried out in front of news cameras covering the protests. Aini said she was further humiliated when she was forced to remove her hijab for booking photos in the jail.

“My hijab is the ultimate sign of my faith,” Aini said. “It serves as my identity, my protection and my faith. A year later, I am still deeply affected. I still hear my pleas to be covered, along with flashbacks reminding me my religion was disrespected and I was spiritually harmed.”

Nasoordeen described being “coerced” by a deputy who convinced her to take off her hijab by saying, “The faster you do this, the faster you can get out of here.”

“I was worried there would be implications if I did not comply,” Nasoordeen said. “I tried to stay strong, but as those feelings settled, I felt like a little kid who had no one to protect them.”

According to the lawsuit, filed at the federal courthouse in Santa Ana, the area where Nasoordeen and Aini were taken to have their booking photos taken was visible to men, though it was female deputies who directly interacted with them during that part of the booking process. The existence of those photos of them without their hijab causes distress to the women, the lawsuit says, since they could be viewed by men who are not members of their immediate family.

Sheriff officials denied that any women were required to remove their hijabs in front of male employees or male members of the public, adding that the women “voluntarily” removed their hijabs for booking photos and them immediately put them back on. The department also said the booking photos are not publicly releasable.

“Unfortunately, false and divisive statements made to the public only serve to undermine trust and incite fear,” the department said of a statement. “The Orange County Sheriff’s Department actively collaborates with various religious groups to foster strong community partnerships, and has established conscientious policies and procedures to balance the constitutional rights of incarcerated individuals to express their religious beliefs with the need to maintain safety and security in our custodial facilities.”

Orange County prosecutors filed misdemeanor charges against dozens of protesters following the pro-Palestinian demonstration at UC Irvine. Most either have or are expected to enter a diversion program rather than face actual time behind bars.

It isn’t the first time that a lawsuit has challenged sheriff’s department policy pertaining to religious head coverings.

In 2013, the department reached an agreement with the ACLU of Southern California in which Muslim women would no longer be required to remove religious head coverings in front of male deputies while in custody.

The agreement — which also covered religious head coverings by members of other faiths such as Orthodox Jews and Sikhs — ended a lawsuit between the county and an Anaheim woman who claimed her religious freedom was infringed upon when she was forced to remove her hijab while at a local court holding facility in 2006.