Ga. judge jails Muslim woman over head scarf

[WI_DEM]

ATLANTA - A Muslim woman arrested for refusing to take off her head scarf at a courthouse security checkpoint said Wednesday that she felt her human and civil rights were violated. A 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 they arrested her Tuesday.

Kelley Jackson, a spokeswoman for Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, said state law doesn't permit or prohibit head scarfs.

"It's at the discretion of the judge and the sheriffs and is up to the security officers in the court house to enforce their decision," she said.

Valentine, who recently moved to Georgia from New Haven, Conn., said the incident reminded her of stories she'd heard of the civil rights-era South.

"I just felt stripped of my civil, my human rights," she said Wednesday from her home. She said she was unexpectedly released after the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations urged federal authorities to investigate the incident as well as others in Georgia.

The group cited a report that the same judge
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[KamaAina]

1. How many guys have come into that courthouse with rugs?

a court policy that prohibits people from wearing any headgear in court

:P

[wpelb]

5. Back in the olden days...

And I believe in Britain still today, men wore powdered wigs in court (and in a lot of other public places).

How times have changed!

[bunnies]

2. Its not your "human right" to wear headgear in court.

FFS. :eyes:

[Deja Q]

3. Personal identification. It is the law for EVERYBODY to have their face shown. A clear view of it.

Nobody is discriminated against or given special treatment; EVERYBODY who gets an ID must comply.

Sorry to be in the minority around here, and as some on DU think that Muslim-practicing women are repressed for wearing such garments in the first place, she seemed to really wanted to remain repressed.

[LiberalFighter]

11. This had nothing to do with identity as in a previous case regarding photo id.

[Selatius]

4. Is wearing a head scarf mandated for women in the Koran? Or is it just an Arab cultural tradition?

If it's a cultural tradition, I see no need for it to be considered such a big deal; however, if it is a religious observance, then there might be problems with the 1st Amendment possibly being violated. Again, I couldn't tell if it's a religious or cultural observance.

[appleannie1]

7. Religious From the article

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.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

6. How ironic to claim "human rights"

More like "de-humanization rights".

[Gwendolyn]

8. The story says she was handcuffed after she swore at the bailiff.

Not the kind of behavior one expects of the devout. :D

[LiberalFighter]

14. Still not appropriate for the bailiff to handcuff her when she was leaving.

[Gwendolyn]

15. Honestly, what do you think happens to anyone who swears at a bailiff?

Ever watch COPS? Or have an airport security person feel you up? Get pulled over for speeding? Do you say "f**k off to people in some kind of uniform and expect any less? Whether you are Christian, atheist, or otherwise? Seriously?

[LiberalFighter]

16. I bet the bailiff would handcuff someone even if they told him "Go to hell".

[Gwendolyn]

17. Yes, I think so too.

But don't believe such a bailiff would do so only in the case of a muslim woman. As someone else said, people in uniform don't have a sense of humor when it comes to disrespecting the position.

[LiberalFighter]

18. From what I gathered the woman was outside the court room when this happened.

Maybe she was in the court room. But the article appears to have stated that the bailiff brought her to the judge.

I can see it if she got upset while in the court room and she got out of hand while the judge was in the court. But when court wasn't in session. The judge wasn't present. She wasn't in the court room? The bailiff in my opinion was wrong.

And the hell with any bailiff that doesn't have a sense of humor. If a person doesn't have a sense of humor they shouldn't have a job which requires interaction with people. The bottom of my shoe to the bailiff.

[Douglas Carpenter]

9. ordering a Muslim woman to remove a headscarf was an intentional act of disrepect on the part of

the judge.

Many, but by no mean all Muslim woman feel it is a religious requirement to wear the headscarf. There are many who feel otherwise.

But in this context it was done as an intentional act of disrespect against Muslim people comparable to forcing an ultra-orthodox Jewish person to violate their rules regarding attire.

[surrealAmerican]

10. Many of the comments here seem to miss the important fact ...

... that she was sent to jail even though what she did (refusing to remove her scarf) was NOT against the law. This is a case of a judge on a power trip.

[boppers]

12. "serve 10 days in jail for contempt of court"

Not "serve 10 days for wearing a scarf"

[LiberalFighter]

13. The woman was going to leave because they wouldn't allow her to wear the scarf.

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.

There was no reason for the bailiff to arrest her if she was leaving!!!