When a devout Muslim woman pleaded with Tennessee deputies to allow her to keep her hijab on for a booking photo, they refused, according to a newly settled federal lawsuit.
Sophia Johnston was threatened with indefinite jail time in August if she didn’t remove her hijab for the mugshot as she was booked in Rutherford County on a six-year-old outstanding warrant connected to driving on a suspended license, the lawsuit said.
She saw no other option but to comply, as she has eight children and “could not afford to be incarcerated indefinitely,” according to a complaint.
Five men were present when she removed her hijab for the photo, the lawsuit said.
Before that day, no man outside of Johnston’s family had seen her hair since she was a child — as that would go against her religious beliefs, McClatchy News previously reported.
The lawsuit accused the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, which published her mugshot online, of denying her request for religious accommodation.
Now the county has agreed to pay Johnston $100,000 to settle the case, her lead attorney Daniel A. Horwitz said in a Jan. 24 news release.
The county has also “destroyed” her mugshots, Horwitz said.
“This is a historic win for Ms. Johnston and her entire religious community,” Horwitz said in a statement.
“Citizens have the right to practice their religion without unreasonable governmental interference, and we are proud to have vindicated Ms. Johnston’s rights and secured permanent policy changes that will prevent violations like this from recurring,” he added.
As a result of the case, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office has updated its booking and jail policies as of Jan. 24.
The sheriff’s office deleted all booking photos of Johnston without her hijab from its records on Jan. 19, according to a Jan. 22 court filing. Surveillance footage of Johnston without the hijab has also been deleted.
Johnston had hoped to accomplish this with her lawsuit, McClatchy News reported.
After Johnston’s arrest for a minor criminal charge in August, the charge has been dismissed, Horwitz said.
Woman forced to remove hijab for mugshot wins $100K — and photos ‘destroyed,’ lawyer says
A Tennessee county will pay $100,000 to settle her federal lawsuit, her attorney says.
I am sure all the men who fucked her to give her eight kids have seen her without her hijab.
