NYC Pays Millions for Requiring Hijab Removal in Mugshots

Photo byMuhammadh SaamyonUnsplash

In response to a class action lawsuit brought by two Muslim women who claimed that the police had violated their religious liberties by forcing them to take off their headscarves for mug pictures after being arrested, New York City has agreed to pay $17.5 million.

More than 3,600 people are eligible for reimbursements under the preliminary financial settlement filed in Manhattan federal court on Friday. However, the accord still needs to be approved by a district court judge.

The lawsuit was first brought in 2018 by Jamilla Clark and Arwa Aziz, two women who were detained for allegedly breaking protection orders that they called bogus. The year before, they were both taken into custody in Manhattan and Brooklyn, respectively.

"When they forced me to take off my hijab, I felt as if I were naked," Clark said in a statement provided by her lawyers. "I'm not sure if words can capture how exposed and violated I felt. I’m so proud today to have played a part in getting justice for thousands of New Yorkers."

The lawsuit states, “Ms. Clark and Ms. Aziz endured this trauma and anguish because of an official NYPD policy that forces arrestees to remove their religious head coverings for an official department photograph that is kept forever, visible to all who can access the NYPD’s main database or have occasion to view an arrestee’s paper file."

The payouts come to about $13.1 million once court costs and legal fees are paid. This amount could increase if more than the 3600 eligible decide to submit claims.

"The NYPD should never have stripped these religious New Yorkers of their head coverings and dignity," Albert Fox Cahn, legal director of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said, according to the New York Times.

In 2020, the NYPD responded to the lawsuit by allowing men and women to retain any head coverings while their mugshots were being taken, provided their faces were visible.

"This settlement resulted in a positive reform for the NYPD," said Nicholas Paolucci, the city's law department spokesman. "The agreement carefully balances the department's respect for firmly held religious beliefs with the important law enforcement need to take arrest photos."