[Peace-discuss] GA judge jails Muslim woman for hijab

[Morton K. Brussel]

In some places, it's a sign of disrespect not to have ones head covered…
On the other hand, I'm a firm advocate of strict Separation of Church  
and State, but that seems not to have been the issue.  --mkb

On Dec 17, 2008, at 11:49 AM, Ricky Baldwin wrote:

> You don't have to be Muslim or even pro-religion to see multiple  
> problems with this kind of pattern.  Came up a couple years ago  
> when France tried banning the hijab - in schools, I believe.  In  
> some countries they say you have to wear it, in some they say you  
> can't.  Seems to me, in general, we should support a person who  
> wants to wear it where they say you can't, and support a person who  
> doesn't want to where they say you must.
>
> Ricky
>
> "Speak your mind even if your voice shakes." - Maggie Kuhn
>
>
> Ga. judge jails Muslim woman over head scarf
>
> By DIONNE WALKER, Associated Press Writer 12-17-08
>
> ATLANTA – A judge ordered the arrest of a Muslim woman who refused  
> to take off her head scarf at a court security checkpoint.
>
> The judge ordered Lisa Valentine, 40, to serve 10 days in jail for  
> contempt of court, said police in Douglasville, a city of about  
> 20,000 people on Atlanta's west suburban outskirts.
>
> Valentine violated a court policy that prohibits people from  
> wearing any headgear in court, police said after the Tuesday arrest.
>
> The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations urged  
> federal authorities to investigate the incident as well as others  
> in Georgia.
>
> "I just felt stripped of my civil, my human rights," Valentine told  
> The Associated Press on Wednesday from her home, after she said she  
> was unexpectedly released once CAIR got involved. Jail officials  
> declined to say why she was freed.
>
> Municipal Court Judge Keith Rollins said that "it would not be  
> appropriate" for him to comment on the case.
>
> Last year, a judge in Valdosta in southern Georgia barred a Muslim  
> woman from entering a courtroom because she would not remove her  
> head scarf. There have been similar cases in other states,  
> including Michigan, where a Muslim woman in Detroit filed a federal  
> lawsuit in February 2007 after a judge dismissed her small-claims  
> court case when she refused to remove a head and face veil.
>
> Valentine's husband, Omar Hall, said his wife was accompanying her  
> nephew to a traffic citation hearing when officials stopped her at  
> the metal detector and told her she would not be allowed in the  
> courtroom with the head scarf, known as a hijab.
>
> Hall said Valentine, an insurance underwriter, told the bailiff  
> that she had been in courtrooms before with the scarf on and that  
> removing it would be a religious violation. When she turned to  
> leave and uttered an expletive, Hall said a bailiff handcuffed her  
> and took her before the judge.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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