Taking photo of Muslim inmate without hijab violated her religious rights, court rules

A federal judge has ruled that a federal prison must destroy all mug shots of a Muslim woman who was photographed without her hijab, ruling it a violation of her religious rights.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan, a Biden appointee to the federal court in Minnesota, said Muna Jama, the woman in question, wears her hijab every day when she is in “mixed-gender spaces” beyond her family, so that mug shot is more valuable to police than one without.

And he said that ordering her to allow her image to be captured without the head scarf transgressed her religion.

“Because any policy that requires Jama to remove her hijab and be photographed requires her to choose between disciplinary action and the violation of her religious beliefs, there is no genuine dispute that defendants have substantially burdened Jama’s religious exercise,” Judge Bryan wrote in his ruling Saturday.

Authorities at a federal prison forced her to take a photo without her covering when she was booked into the facility in 2019. They then used the photo on her ID card, her locker and prison records.

After she filed a complaint in 2022, the prison allowed her to take a new photo with her hijab — but made her take another uncovered photo as well. After she filed a lawsuit, the prison agreed to use her hijab photo for its identification purposes — but said it would keep the uncovered photo sealed, to be used only if she escapes.

Jama said the existence of the photo was still a violation of her rights.

Judge Bryan agreed, saying it ran afoul of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which requires the government to take the least intrusive path to achieve its goals where matters of religion are involved.

For one thing, Judge Bryan said, the prison’s current deal that her uncovered photo will be kept sealed could always be reversed by prison officials in the future.

And he said the mere existence of the photo means an unrelated male could see it — violating her religious beliefs.

He rejected the government’s argument that having an uncovered photo could be important if she escapes, saying the government never presented evidence showing authorities need an uncovered photo to track down a Muslim woman escapee and figuring that Jama’s deeply held religious views would ensure she wore her hijab even if she did flee.

Judge Bryan said the prison’s policy didn’t apply to other inmates. For example, he said, non-Muslim inmates aren’t required to be photographed in a headscarf.

“Any escapee could begin wearing a headscarf as a disguise,” he asserted.

The hijab is a scarf worn by women as a religious requirement for modesty, covering at least her hair and often her neck and shoulders. Customs and laws, along with hijab styles, vary throughout the Muslim world, but in most of it, most women wear some sort of head covering.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations hailed the decision as a “significant victory” that will set a precedent for all Muslim women behind bars.

“It sends a clear message that carceral institutions cannot disregard the dignity and religious practice of those in their custody without compelling justification,” said Aya Beydoun, a CAIR lawyer. “Our team intends to build on this momentum, using this ruling to advocate for meaningful policy changes in facilities nationwide.”