Kazan said she had to remove her hijab when she was arrested after traffic stop last November. The police department said that like any other head wrapping, a hijab can hide harmful items, and that’s why she was asked to remove the headdress at the time of the booking photo.
Kazan’s attorney said that is no excuse, telling reporters, “Your religious freedoms are not stripped at the jailhouse door. It's part of the (canons) of their faith to wear a headscarf. For her to have to remove in front of a non-relative male, it would be a non-pleasant experience for her.”
Kazan is suing to have the police department change its policy and allow the hijab remain in place for booking photographs.
“Wearing a headscarf is a reminder of her faith, the importance of modesty in her religion… as well as a symbol of her own control over who may see the more intimate parts of her body," the lawsuit said. “To have her hair and neck uncovered in public… is… deeply humiliating, violating, and defiling experience.”