Ga. judge jails Muslim woman over head scarf

[DarkUmagon]

Ga. judge jails Muslim woman over head scarf - Yahoo! News
ATLANTA – A Muslim woman arrested for refusing to take off her head scarf at a courthouse security checkpoint said Wednesday that she felt her human and civil rights were violated.
A judge ordered Lisa Valentine, 40, to serve 10 days in jail for contempt of court, said police in Douglasville, a city of about 20,000 people on Atlanta's west suburban outskirts.
Valentine violated a court policy that prohibits people from wearing any headgear in court, police said after they arrested her Tuesday.
Valentine, who recently moved to Georgia from Connecticut, said the incident reminded her of stories she'd heard of the civil rights-era South.
"I just felt stripped of my civil, my human rights," she said Wednesday from her home. She said she was unexpectedly released after the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations urged federal authorities to investigate the incident as well as others in Georgia.
Jail officials declined to say why she was freed and municipal Court Judge Keith Rollins said that "it would not be appropriate" for him to comment on the case.
Last year, a judge in Valdosta in southern Georgia barred a Muslim woman from entering a courtroom because she would not remove her head scarf. There have been similar cases in other states, including Michigan, where a Muslim woman in Detroit filed a federal lawsuit in February 2007 after a judge dismissed her small-claims court case when she refused to remove a head and face veil.
Valentine's husband, Omar Hall, said his wife was accompanying her nephew to a traffic citation hearing when officials stopped her at the metal detector and told her she would not be allowed in the courtroom with the head scarf, known as a hijab.
Hall said Valentine, an insurance underwriter, told the bailiff that she had been in courtrooms before with the scarf on and that removing it would be a religious violation. When she turned to leave and uttered an expletive, Hall said a bailiff handcuffed her and took her before the judge.

[angel of music]

wtf???????????????? that's just wrong and seems VERY racist.

[Negatiw]

You must obey the law !

[vega]

lol If i was her i would appeal the case as hate crime which if found guilty the judge would server 10 years min. and 25 year max in federal jail because the FBI would have jurisdiction over it ^^

i would also bring it up as a violation of my first amendment.

You must obey the law !

there is something called First Amendment which protect's religion rights and the judge no mater what he does can not make a law that would go against the constitution

[Karyuudan]

That is *******d up man, if the sister didn't want to take off her scarf that is within her rights. I can't understand the legal system over there one bit....highly discriminatory behavior from a judge who is an authority on justice to say the woman was in "contempt of court" is absolutely diabolical judgment and shows the judges ignorance of others' beliefs and practices.

[butters136]

this makes no sence
why don't they just check her head for metal objects or somethin why would she have to take it off and if she refuses why arrest her this is deff a form of discrimination if u ask meh

[SSJ5]

I know that was a little harsh, but there are some things you just can't do. It's the same if she was wearing a hooded coat, I'm sure the exact same thing would have happened. Just because that's a custom doesn't make her exempt from the Law.

[Walbuls]

You must obey the law, dont like it? Dont ****ing live here. You dont get special treatment b/c you pray to some other figment of your imagination.

[butters136]

ooh harsh comment

[SSJ5]

My thoughts exactly I mean I agree that they have to go by the Law, but I wouldn't insult the Muslim's in general @__@ *backs away*