Three of the women who were arrested on Jan. 8 at Dallas Love Field intend to pursue legal action against the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office for the forcible removal of their religious headscarves while at the Dallas County Jail.
The women were arrested for protesting President Joe Biden’s arrival in Dallas following his policies and remarks regarding the Hamas-Israeli conflict in Gaza. Biden was visiting Dallas for the funeral of long-time Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson.
One of the women arrested has been identified as a Palestinian and a former employee of Johnson, who served Texas’ 30th Congressional District, which includes South Dallas and the Southern neighborhoods of Oak Cliff, from 1993 to 2023.
According to a press release by the women’s legal team, the removal of their headscarves and the subsequent publication of the mugshots by a news organization violated their first amendment rights and was a “dehumanizing experience.” The women were ordered to remove their headscarves even after informing the jail authorities that they were religious garments.
“While this nation honors the legacy of Martin Luther King’s civil disobedience and non-violent resistance predicated on equality, anti-militarism and anti-imperialism, we continue to bear witness to atrocities committed abroad in our name and blatant, incontrovertible violations of religious freedom for our citizens domestically,” Huma Yasin, one of the attorneys representing the women, said. “We will demand accountability for the intentional deprivation of First Amendment rights and the emotional distress and humiliation inflicted on our clients.”
According to the Texas chapter of the ACLU, religious freedom for prisoners and other incarcerated individuals is protected by the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which states that officials cannot place excessive burdens on a prisoner’s ability to practice their religious beliefs. However the ACLU states this legal determination can be very individualized.
“The forced removal of the religious garments is symptomatic of Islamophobic discrimination, and comes amidst a rise in islamophobia, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism across the U.S. since the start of Israel’s brutal genocide,” the press release stated. “This violence reflects the dehumanizing language wielded by U.S. politicians in attempt to garner support for Israel’s genocide, which similarly inflicts violence against Palestinian prisoners who face night raids, kidnapping, administrative detention, medical neglect and sexual violence.”
In the last decade, New York City, Los Angeles, Miami and other municipalities have been subject to lawsuits for the same reason. In 2017, Long Beach was forced to amend their policy after a lawsuit ensued from a male officer removing a woman’s hijab while she was in police custody. When she left custody, her hijab was returned to her in an evidence bag. Long Beach PD then amended their policy to require a female officer to remove hijabs “when necessary for officer safety,” the LA Times reported. In 2020, NYPD lost a settlement, requiring officers to no longer remove the religious headwear during mug shots.
The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
