New York City has agreed to pay $17.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by two Muslim women who were forced to remove their hijab for mugshots.
Jamilla Clark and Arwa Aziz filed the class-action lawsuit in 2018, claiming they felt embarrassed and exposed and liked being strip-searched.
‘When they forced me to take off my hijab, I felt like I was naked. “I’m not sure words can express how exposed and violated I felt,” Clark said.
“I am very proud today to have contributed to achieving justice for thousands of New Yorkers.”
Clark was arrested in Manhattan Family Court on January 9, 2017 for allegedly violating a false protective order filed by her abusive ex-husband.
Jamilla Clark (pictured) and Arwa Aziz filed the class-action lawsuit in 2018, claiming they felt embarrassed and exposed and liked being strip-searched.
The complaint alleged that the husband “invented these charges to secure immigration status as an alleged victim of domestic violence.”
Clark was arrested another time on the same trumped-up charges, but they were dismissed.
The lawsuit says officers at police headquarters at One Police Plaza threatened to prosecute Clark, who was sobbing after they ignored his pleas, if he did not remove his head covering.
She claimed that a police supervisor “made numerous hostile comments about Muslims” after she refused to remove her hijab.
“The male officers touched Ms. Clark repeatedly, even though she explained that such touching violated her religion, and denied her a place to wash and pray,” the lawsuit reads.
They agreed to let a female officer take the mugshot, but the male officers watched through a security camera and five of them were shown the photo later.
The lawsuit claimed that Clark was so “agitated and distraught over having her hijab forcibly removed” while in custody that she was too afraid to wear one in public for the next month.
Clark said she was “obsessed” by the photo that existed in the NYPD database and was repeatedly viewed by strange men.
Clark (pictured at the time of her arrest in January 2017) said she was “obsessed” by the photo that existed in the NYPD database and was repeatedly viewed by strange men.
Aziz was arrested after turning herself into police in Brooklyn on August 30, 2017, after being accused of violating a false protective order filed by her sister-in-law.
The allegedly abusive sister-in-law repeatedly asked police to arrest Aziz and she eventually showed up for arrest to refute the charges.
The officers refused to allow her to pull back her hijab slightly to show her hairline and, “crying hysterically,” she put it back around her neck.
The lawsuit says she was devastated when her photo was taken where a dozen police officers and more than 30 inmates could see it.
‘Some of the male prisoners lining the hallway, respectful of Mrs Aziz’s distress, turned their backs and strove to give her some privacy. “None of the police officers in the hallway gave Ms. Aziz the same courtesy,” the lawsuit reads.
Ms Aziz had been wearing the mask every day for almost seven years and “it’s part of her, she can’t describe herself without her hijab”.
The lawsuit claimed that the experience “severely traumatized Ms. Aziz and caused her substantial and lasting emotional distress.”
Clark (pictured with her new husband in a more recent photo) claimed that a police supervisor “made numerous hostile comments about Muslims” after she refused to remove her hijab.
City officials initially defended the practice of forcing people to remove their heads for mugshots, saying the policy balanced respect for religious customs with “the legitimate need for law enforcement to take arrest photographs.” “.
But the police department changed the policy in 2020 as part of an initial lawsuit settlement, saying it would allow arrested people to keep their heads covered for mugshots with limited exceptions, such as if the head covering obscures facial features. of the person.
The new policy was extended to other religious headgear, including wigs and yarmulkes worn by Jews and turbans worn by Sikhs.
Police may temporarily remove their heads to search for weapons or contraband, but in private settings by officers of the same gender.
The financial agreement was filed Friday and requires approval from Manhattan federal court Judge Analisa Torres.
City legal department spokesman Nick Paolucci said the agreement resulted in positive reform for the police department and “was in the best interest of all parties.”
“The agreement carefully balances the department’s respect for strongly held religious beliefs with law enforcement’s important need to take photographs of arrests,” he said.
Clark was arrested in Manhattan Family Court (pictured) on January 9, 2017.
Andrew Wilson, who represents women alongside the Surveillance Technology Monitoring Project, said: ‘Forcing someone to remove religious clothing is like a strip search.
“This substantial settlement recognizes the profound harm that forced removal causes to the dignity of those who wear religious headscarves.”
Proceeds from the settlement will be shared equally among up to 4,100 eligible class members who respond by a deadline set by the judge.
There was a guaranteed minimum payment of $7,824 for each eligible person, which could be up to $13,125. The payment will be about $13.1 million after legal fees.
People forced to remove their head between March 16, 2014 and August 23, 2021 are eligible for the agreement.