A lawsuit has been filed against the Kent County Sheriff’s office for removing a woman’s hijab at the county jail.
The incident occurred last April. 23-year-old Jannah Hague had been arrested by the Grand Rapids Police. She was taken to the county jail to have her photo taken and to be booked.
As part of the process, female jail employees removed her hijab to check for weapons or other contraband and for her booking photo.
The Michigan chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations claims in its federal lawsuit that the “forcible” removal of the woman’s religious head covering violated her civil rights.
“We are going to hold Kent County responsible to the fullest extent possible for not only their violation of Ms. Hague’s rights, but their continued disregard for the harm that it caused her when her photo was released,” said CAIR-MI Staff Attorney, Amy V. Doukoure.
A Kent County Sheriff’s office spokesman says an internal investigation did not find the inmate’s rights were violated by jail employees.
“As (Hague) was being processed into the jail our female corrections officer took her out of view of all male officers and inmates….and then she was allowed to put it back on before entering the booking area,” said Lt. Eric Brunner.
Brunner says there is a video and audio recording of the booking process in its entirety.
