Woman sues police after forced hijab removal

An American Muslim woman has filed a federal lawsuit against the Knox County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee, United States, alleging that her religious rights were violated when she was forced to remove her hijab for a booking photo that was later published online.

Layla Soliz of Knoxville, Tennessee, filed the lawsuit following her arrest on May 15, 2024, during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

The complaint said that after being detained for several hours, Soliz was taken to the Knox County detention facility, where officers photographed her without her hijab despite her objections.

They took a second photo with her hijab, which Soliz wears daily as part of her Islamic faith.

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The lawsuit said, “Requiring an observant Muslim woman to remove her hijab in front of men who are not her family members is humiliating and degrading — akin to requiring a woman to take off her shirt in public.”

According to the lawsuit, an intake officer had promised that the mugshot without her headscarf would not be made public.

Still, a sergeant later uploaded the image to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office website, where hundreds of people viewed it.

Soliz’s attorney, Daniel Horwitz, emphasised the legal protections in place, stating, “State and federal law — not to mention Knox County’s own booking policy — forbade Knox County officials from violating Mrs. Soliz’s religious rights in the way they did.”

Soliz is seeking at least $250,000 in damages, the deletion of the mugshot, and a permanent policy change to prevent similar incidents.

This incident is not isolated; it reflects a broader issue faced by Muslim women across the U.S. In 2023, another Muslim woman, Sophia Johnston, successfully sued Rutherford County after being forced to remove her hijab for a mugshot. (American Muslim Today)