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The San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations this week demanded a public apology and monetary settlement from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office for allegedly forcibly removing a Muslim woman’s headscarf during processing at the jail.
CAIR also asked the county Board of Supervisors to “take action” against what it says was a violation of the woman’s religious beliefs, constitutional rights and dignity after her headscarf — or hajib — was allegedly “violently yanked’ off her head at the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas.
The Sheriff’s Office said that it reviewed surveillance footage of the woman’s processing and that force was not used.
“In fact the complainant was asked to remove it herself,” said spokesperson Deputy Felicia Segura in an email.
The woman, Asia Aden, says she requested to keep her hajib on because it was against her religious beliefs to remove it in the presence of men.
“I have always held law enforcement in high regard for the important work they do,” said Aden in a statement released by CAIR. “Unfortunately, that has changed as this traumatic experience has broken me to my core.”
Aden said the alleged action left her humiliated and disgraced, especially after she had to go without a head covering for nearly three days. She also said she would have worn an alternative head covering and asked to either have her hajib returned or to be given some sort of replacement.
CAIR said this is the second time this has happened to someone in detention in the county, and that the Sheriff’s Office promised to implement policy changes and training protocols in 2021.
“We are now questioning their effectiveness,” said CAIR senior civil rights attorney Jeffrey Wang in the organization’s statement.
“The Sheriff’s Office collaborated with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) after the past concern in 2021,” said Segura. “Based on that collaboration, the Sheriff’s Office updated its Religious Practices policy to ensure that anyone wearing a Hijab, Kufi, Turban or Yarmulke will be reasonably accommodated, subject to the compelling interest for facility security or to prevent self-harm. The booking staff was educated on the policy update.”
The policy in question states that “Inmates that practice a religion that requires particular modes of dress, garments, headgear, etc., other than standard-issue clothing, will be accommodated subject to the compelling government interest in maintaining facility security, including identifying inmates and detecting contraband. Religious garments may only be denied when doing so would be the least restrictive means of achieving those interests.”
The Sheriff’s Office policy directly addresses how to carry out intake for women in hajibs, stating that guards can ask head coverings to be removed, but that the inmate must be offered the opportunity to have the search conducted in a private space out of view of members of the opposite gender.
Jails can keep a person’s hajib, but “shall provide the inmate with a jail-issued garment (e.g., jail-issued head scarf),” reads the policy.
Asked if the jail honored its policy to remove the hajib out of the presence of men and to give Aden a jail-issued head covering, Segura said she did not have that information at this time, “but when it becomes available, I will let you know.”
The Department of Corrections is required to acknowledge cultural traditions and any violation of this guideline can be construed as bigotry.
In the case of headscarves and turbans, if a suspect or arrestee is required to remove them, the individual must be provided with alternative headgear such as a ballcap.
This incident could easily have been prevented. As the United States becomes more diverse, American society must learn to accept and honor multi-cultural traditions from abroad with dignity and respect.
Here’s an “effective” approach. You can be a law-abiding citizen like the rest of us and your chances of being “mistreated” in jail are down to zero. I’m often mistaken for a straight-shooter.
This issue reminds me of how people (such as LEO’s) who wield power over others in compromising situations, the LEO’s usually come on top by giving an excuse for their behavior. POC’s are often detained for no other reason than failure to use a turn signal while driving, ala Sandra Bland. This would probably never happen to you, Jennifer, because you’re a “straight shooter” (i.e. white power enabler of other white power enablers). Imagine being any color but white, in a jail setting whether convicted or just being held while LEOs try to figure out how to justify an arrest, when one of those LEO’s asks you to remove a religious garment. You could go two ways with this. Refuse, and get a beating AND have your garment forcibly removed. OR, say ‘yes’ and get portrayed as being acquiescent when really all you’re trying to do is prevent being killed in a jail cell. Either way, unless you are white, the LEO’s will say anything to paint an incident that violates someone’s civil rights as being within customary practices.