Stop NYPD’s removal of hijabs – suit

A PAIR of Muslim-American women accused the NYPD in a federal lawsuit of violating their constitutional rights by forcing them to remove their hijabs for mug shots.

The class action filed Friday recounts the emotional turmoil suffered when both were busted on bogus charges — and then ordered to doff their head scarves for police photos.

“When they forced me to take off my hijab, I felt as if I was naked,” said plaintiff Jamilla Clark of Cedar Grove, N.J. “I’m not sure if words can capture how exposed and violated I felt.”

Clark, 39, sat weeping inside One Police Plaza with her hijab pushed down onto her shoulders as one police officer “openly mocked the Muslim faith,” according to the 27-page lawsuit against the city.

The court papers alleged the NYPD’s “unnecessary and discriminatory policy is out of step with national norms, federal and state law, and the United States Constitution.”

The Law Department promised to review the complaint but insisted the NYPD was acting within the law.

“We are confident that the police department’s religious head covering policy passes constitutional muster,” the city said in its statement.

“It carefully balances the department’s respect for the customs of all religions with the legitimate law enforcement need to take arrest photos.”

Muslim women wear the hijab for religious reasons, with their faith dictating they must keep it on when in public.

Co-plaintiff Arwa Aziz, 45, of Brooklyn, detailed in court papers what happened to her inside Brooklyn Central Booking after police arrested the devout Muslim.

The police “refused to allow her to push the hijab back slightly, exposing her hairline and ears,” the suit charged. “The told her falsely, ‘It’s the law.’

“Frantic, weeping and bareheaded in a hallway full of men who do not belong to her immediate family, Ms. Aziz felt broken,” the lawsuit charged. Though the city reached a $180,000 settlement last month with three Muslim women forced to remove their hijabs while sitting for mug shots, the policy remains unchanged, according to the lawsuit.

“Our city is quick to make progressive promises, but slow to enact reforms,” said Council on American-Islamic Relations New York legal director Albert Fox Cain. “This is a moment when Muslim New Yorkers need our support, not abuse.”

The lawsuit alleges that both Clark and Aziz were photographed without their head scarves after arrests based on trumped-up charges related to orders of protection.

“NYPD officers force arrestees who wear religious head coverings to remove those head coverings for a photograph, even where doing so violated the arrestees’ sincerely-held religious beliefs,” the lawsuit charged.

“This practice alienates and oppresses faith communities throughout New York. It lacks justification and must be changed.”