Muslim headscarf lawsuit dismissed

A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a Muslim woman against a state judge for making her remove a Muslim headscarf.

The suit was filed by Raneen Albaghdady against Judge William Callahan of the Wayne County Circuit Court after Callahan told her, during a hearing on her request to change her name, that he did not allow hats in his courtroom. Albaghdady then filed a federal lawsuit for violations of her free exercise rights because the headscarf is mandated by her Muslim faith.

The federal court dismissed the case, nothing that Albaghdady did not protest at the time or assert any religious belief. When Callahan asked her to remove it, she simply replied, “Okay. It doesn’t matter.” Callahan then thanked her and the hearing continued. Those actions, the judge concluded, undermine her argument that she suffered an injury that can be fixed by a declaratory judgment by the court.

Albaghdady claimed in an affidavit that she did not protest at the time because she was “terrified and scared of [Defendant]” because she came from a country “where you can’t say no to a judge in a court room.” She further said that she “felt if [she] did not
follow his direction that [she] could be arrested.”

The judge found those arguments unconvincing, saying that there is nothing on the videotape of the incident that supports a claim of having been intimidated by Callahan and that if she had merely explained that the hijab held religious significance, Callahan might well have allowed her to wear it.

“There simply is no evidence that Callahan would have required the removal of a head covering if he had known of its religious significance,” the court ruled.