A woman who is suing a Wayne County judge for telling her to remove her Islamic head scarf says she was terrified and humiliated by the June 16 incident.
“I was hurt, the way he treated me,” Raneen Albaghdady said today at a news conference at the Michigan offices of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Southfield. “I was really, really scared and terrified.”
Albaghdady and the council today filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Detroit against Wayne Circuit Judge J. William Callahan and Wayne County. The suit alleges violation of her rights to freedom of religion and access to the courts and seeks a federal court order barring Michigan judges from telling women to remove their Islamic head scarves, called hijabs.
At a name-change hearing in front of Callahan, Albaghdady never objected to removing the scarf or told the judge the scarf had religious significance, a video transcript of the hearing shows.
“OK, it doesn’t matter,” Albaghdady, 32, of Dearborn Heights told Callahan.
The scarf Albaghdady wore was not tucked in or tied around her chin in the way hijabs are typically worn, said her attorney, Nabih Ayad of Canton Township. The video shows Albaghdady wore a large headpiece that Ayad described as a hair clip after she moved the scarf down to around her shoulders in response to the judge.
Callahan issued a statement today through the court’s office of general counsel2.jpg (384x515, AR: 0.75) that said he has “the greatest respect for spiritual practices and all religious preferences,” and “had he been informed that the head covering had some religious significance, the judge would have permitted it.”
Ayad said he doesn’t buy that.
“He should never have asked her to remove her scarf,” Ayad said. “The judge has been around for over 12 years. People wear (the hijab) in many different ways.”
He noted that a friend of Albaghdady’s who was seated in the courtroom tried to object when the judge told the woman to remove her scarf, but Callahan shut him down.
Based on a video transcript of Albaghdady’s name-change hearing viewed at Wayne County Circuit Court, the exchange went like this:
Callahan: “The headpiece...
Albaghdady: “I’m sorry?”
Callahan: “No hats allowed in the courtroom.”
Man seated in the courtroom: “It’s not a hat. It’s a scarf.”
Callahan: “Excuse me, sir.”
Albaghdady: “This one?”
Callahan: “No hats allowed in the courtroom.”
Albaghdady: “This one?”
Callahan: “Yes.”
Albaghdady: “OK. It doesn’t matter.”
Ayad said as an Iraqi immigrant, Albaghdady would have been quick to do whatever Callahan told her. “He’s god, and it’s very, very intimidating,” Ayad said.
He agreed, however, that Albaghdady argued strenuously with the judge later in the hearing when he denied her name-change application over a technical issue related to how long she had been living in Wayne County when she applied for the name change.