New York City to pay $17.5 million to settle suit after police forced women to remove hijabs for mug shots

First Published Apr 6, 2024, 2:14 PM IST

New York City has agreed to a $17.5 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit brought by two Muslim-American women who alleged that the police violated their rights by compelling them to remove their hijabs before being photographed upon arrest. The preliminary agreement, which is a class action settlement, includes individuals, both men and women, who were mandated to remove religious attire before being photographed. Filed in Manhattan federal court on Friday, the settlement awaits approval from US District Judge Analisa Torres.

After deducting legal fees and costs, the payouts are expected to total around $13.1 million, with the potential to increase if a sufficient number of the over 3,600 eligible class members submit claims.

Each recipient will receive between $7,824 and $13,125. This settlement addresses a lawsuit initiated in 2018 by Jamilla Clark and Arwa Aziz, who asserted that they experienced shame and trauma when police compelled them to remove their hijabs for mugshots in Manhattan and Brooklyn the previous year.

Both had been arrested for violating orders of protection they deemed unwarranted. Their legal representatives likened the act of removing the hijabs to a strip-search.

"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."

As a response to the lawsuit, in 2020, the New York Police Department agreed to allow individuals, both men and women, to wear head coverings during mugshots, provided that their faces remained visible.

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

The updated policy also encompassed other religious head coverings, such as wigs and yarmulkes worn by Jews, and turbans worn by Sikhs. Police are permitted to temporarily remove head coverings for security searches, but only in private and conducted by officers of the same gender.

Albert Fox Cahn, a lawyer for Clark and Aziz, said the accord "sends a powerful message that the NYPD can't violate New Yorkers' First Amendment rights without paying a price."

Individuals who were compelled to remove head coverings between March 16, 2014, and August 23, 2021, are eligible for the settlement.

(Image for representation purpose only)

Last Updated Apr 6, 2024, 2:16 PM IST