A Muslim woman who sued Ramsey County when she was forced to remove her hijab for a booking photo reached a $120,000 settlement that includes policy changes to keep it from happening to other Muslim women.
Aida Al-Kadi spoke Tuesday about the humiliation she faced while detained at the Ramsey County Jail for a traffic violation in 2013.
“I can’t ever be made whole after this experience… but I am grateful to know that any other woman detained by Ramsey County will not experience what I did,” she said. Al-Kadi’s comments were made at the Council on American-Islamic Relations office in Minneapolis.
Additionally, Ramsey County agreed to adopt a policy that permits all Muslim woman to wear hijabs during booking photos, and a commitment to train all correction officers on the new policy.
Executive Director Jaylani Hussein called the outcome a “landmark case” that epitomizes CAIR’s mission.
“We have always believed in changing systems that continue to create discrimination ….,” Hussein said. “It’s (moments like this) that we see the light at the end of the tunnel, when we are able to change policies and hopefully hearts and minds along the way.”
In August of 2013 a family emergency forced Al-Kadi to miss a court date on a traffic violation for driving with a revoked license. A warrant was issued for her arrest, and she turned herself in to a police station in Edina shortly thereafter.
She was initially booked in Hennepin County, and, subsequently, Ramsey County.
A practicing Muslim born and raised in the U.S., Al-Kadi considers wearing her hijab “central to her faith,” and was wearing one at the time, along with an abaya, a light garment made of thin material, according to the lawsuit she later filed in federal court.
She was told by correction workers to remove the articles while they searched her. She explained that her religious beliefs prohibited her from doing so in front of men. She was subsequently taken to a private room and ordered to remove her hijab again, even though male staffers were still present.
Her garments were returned and Al-Kadi was taken for a booking photo, where she was again instructed to remove her hijab.
Al-Kadi hesitated, and a female staffer attempted to forcefully remove it before Al-Kadi complied.
She was given a bed-sheet to wear in its place. The booking photo was later published online on a third party website.
“It was one of the most humiliating and harmful experiences of my life,” Al-Kadi recalled Tuesday.
Upset, she went to the CAIR offices for help. Legal staff sent letters to Hennepin and Ramsey County demanding changes to their jail policies.
Ellen Longfellow, a civil rights attorney for CAIR, spoke about that stage of the process Tuesday, saying Hennepin County responded quickly to the letter and agreed to discontinue its policy forcing detainees to remove hijabs during booking photos. Hennepin County also agreed to start providing jail-issued hijabs to inmates.
Ramsey County, on the other hand, would only agree to the latter, Longfellow said.
Al-Kadi filed a lawsuit against Ramsey County in federal court. She represented herself in the case, because neither she nor CAIR had the means to retain an attorney.
“I was desperate … letting it go would not be justice,” Al-Kadi said.
The lawsuit claimed Ramsey County discriminated against her for her religious beliefs and violated her constitutional rights.
In 2017 she secured legal representation through the Pro Se Project, an initiative of the U.S. District Court and the Minnesota Chapter of the Federal Bar Association that provides access to justice for underrepresented litigants.
Ramsey County subsequently moved to dismiss the lawsuit, but U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim determined in an order issued this past June that the case had enough merit to proceed to trial, according to Caitlinrose Fisher, one of Al-Kadi’s attorneys who also spoke at Tuesday’s press conference.
That paved the way for the settlement, Fisher said. The impact may well be statewide, potentially leading other counties to adopt policies similar to those of Hennepin and Ramsey counties.
“The court’s order makes it clear that … requiring a practicing Muslim to remove a hijab for a booking photo … can meaningfully limit the individual’s (right) … to practice … their faith,” Fisher said.
She added that Ramsey County also agreed to destroy Al-Kadi’s booking photo as a part of the settlement. The third party website also has removed it.
The Ramsey County Board agreed to the settlement this past June, shortly after the judge’s order, according to a spokesman, who released the following statement on behalf of the county:
“We believe that this settlement agreement is fair and in the best interests of all of our residents. Ramsey County’s values hold that the rights, beliefs, well-being and dignity of all our residents are protected and honored in all aspects of what we do. The practices outlined in the agreement to improve the booking process for those with religious head coverings better reflect these values. The County Board looks forward to updates from the Sheriff’s Office as implementation of these practices continues,” the statement read.
The county provided no additional comment about the case.