In filing a federal lawsuit Wednesday, a Dearborn Heights woman said she hopes to help preserve the rights of other Muslim women.
The lawsuit alleges that a Wayne County judge forced her to remove her hijab, an Islamic head scarf, during a court appearance this summer to change her name.
Raneen Albaghdady, 32, a native of IraqImage, said Judge Bill Callahan, a Wayne County Circuit judge in the family domestic division, told her to remove her head covering in keeping with court rules.
“I never thought this would happen here in America,” Albaghdady, a designer, said at a news conference Wednesday in Southfield at the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations2.jpg (384x515, AR: 0.75), a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Wednesday’s lawsuit comes after the Michigan Supreme Court2.jpg (384x515, AR: 0.75) adopted a court rule on Tuesday that gives judges “reasonable control over parties’ and witnesses’ appearance.” That decision stems from a case involving a Hamtramck woman who went to court wearing a niqab, an Islamic veil that covers the entire face, except for the eyes.
This week, CAIR released a video clip of Albaghdady’s court appearance on YouTube.
An assistant to Callahan said the video doesn’t include the part where Albaghdady removed the head scarf and said, “It’s OK; it doesn’t matter.”