On The Front Lines
Dept. of Justice Intervenes in Institute Case on Behalf of Muslim Girl's Right to Wear "Hijab"
_______________________________________Dept. Of Justice Intervenes In Rutherford Institute Case On Behalf Of Muslim Girl's Right To Wear Religious Head Covering To School
Attorney General John Ashcroft Certifies Hearn Case as 'One of General Public Importance'
MUSKOGEE, Okla.--Attorneys with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice have filed motions in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma in support of an 11-year-old Muslim girl who was twice suspended by school officials for wearing a religious head covering. Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute filed suit in October 2003 against the Muskogee Public School District arguing that the school's actions violated Nashala Hearn's rights to free speech, free exercise of religion and due process as guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Since that time, Institute attorneys have amended the complaint to add a claim for equal protection. In asking the court to declare the school's dress code policy to be unconstitutionally vague, the lawsuit also seeks to require school officials to revise the dress code to accommodate the religious dress of their students and expunge Nashala's educational record of the two suspensions. In filing a motion to intervene, the Justice Department is affirming the public interest in Nashala's constitutional right to religious expression and equal protection under the law. "The United States seeks to intervene in this lawsuit to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment, and to ensure that public school districts do not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of religion," stated the Justice Department in its legal memorandum. "When public schools discriminate, the United States has an interested in having such conduct declared unlawful and enjoined, appropriate remedies implemented, and the victims made whole."
Nashala Hearn, along with her family, are followers of the Islamic faith, which requires females to wear a headscarf called a "hijab" in public places, a requirement Nashala has consistently followed in expressing her commitment to her sincerely-held Islamic religious beliefs. This fall, Nashala began attending the sixth grade at Benjamin Franklin Science Academy, a public middle school in Muskogee, Okla. On September 11, 2003, Nashala was informed by her principal that she would no longer be permitted to wear her hijab to school, because it was prohibited by the school dress code. Institute attorneys have pointed out that while the dress code prohibits "hats, caps, bandannas, plastic caps, and hoods on jackets inside the [school] building," it makes no mention of hijabs or any other kind of religious head covering. Despite the principal's warning, Nashala continued to wear the hijab to school in keeping with her religious beliefs. On October 1, 2003, Nashala was suspended from school for three days. Upon returning to school on October 7 after serving the suspension, Nashala was once again suspended, this time for five days. Although Nashala has been allowed to return to school until the matter is resolved and continues to wear the hijab, she is subject to sanction under the school dress code at the whim of her principal and other school authorities.
"By intervening in Nashala's case, the Department of Justice has demonstrated its commitment to our principles of liberty and justice," stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "We commend the Department for Justice for affirming the fact that the First Amendment exists to protect the devoutly religious, such as Muslims, Orthodox Jews and Christians, from such unconstitutional discrimination."
The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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