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Muslim Rights Group Sues Michigan Sheriff Over Forced Hijab Removal

Hill-Country-Weekly
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A Muslim rights group is going to court because the Kent County Sheriff's Office made a woman in Michigan take off her hijab for a booking picture.

woman wearing black abaya dress

This week, the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations made a claim saying that the sheriff's office broke Jannah Hague, 21, of Grand Rapids's religious rights.

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Amy Doukoure, a staff attorney for the council, said that the sheriff's office insisted on taking one of her two booking pictures without her hijab and putting it on a public website.

Doukoure said, "We don't think Kent County needs to have a dual hijab policy or a dual photograph policy."

"And that's kind of what we worked out with the city of Detroit, the city of Ferndale, and the Michigan Department of Corrections in the lawsuits we settled last year."

The Kent County Sheriff's Office said that Hague was arrested on April 8 after a fight at her home, but they wouldn't say anything else.

Dockoure said that Muslim women wear the hijab because they truly believe that they should cover their hair, neck, and ears when they are around men who are not related to them. 

She also said that taking off a hijab in front of guys you don't know is very rude to practicing Muslim women.

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