On The Front Lines
Institute Succeeds in Protecting Muslim Girl's Right to Wear Religious Head Covering
School Officials Amend Head Covering Policy to Accommodate Religious PracticesMUSKOGEE, Okla.--Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have successfully settled a lawsuit against the Muskogee Public School District, after school officials twice suspended an 11-year-old Muslim girl for wearing a religious head covering. Under terms of the agreement, the Muskogee Public School District has agreed to change its dress code to allow exceptions for religious reasons. The settlement also requires the school district to put in place a training program for all teachers and administrators about the new dress code and to publicize the change.
"This is a great victory for free speech and religious freedom," stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "It's also a reminder that our public schools need to foster diversity and accommodate religious beliefs."
Institute attorneys filed suit in federal district court 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. In asking the court to declare the school's dress code policy unconstitutional, the lawsuit sought 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. Earlier this year, the Justice Department filed a motion to intervene in the case, affirming the public interest in Nashala's constitutional right to religious expression and equal protection under the law. 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 was allowed to return to school until the matter was resolved and continued to wear the hijab, she was subject to sanction under the school dress code at the whim of her principal and other school authorities.
The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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