NYC to pay $17.5M to settle suit over forced removal of religious head coverings during mug shots
NEW YORK — New York City has agreed to pay $17.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by two Muslim women who were forced to remove their head coverings to be photographed after their arrest.
The class action lawsuit was filed in 2018 by Jamilla Clark and Arwa Aziz, two Muslim women who said they felt ashamed and exposed when they were forced to remove their headscarves after their arrest.
“When they forced me to take off my hijab, it felt like I was naked. I’m not sure words can express how exposed and violated I felt,” Clark said in a statement. “I am so proud today that I played a role in getting justice for thousands of New Yorkers.”
Clark was arrested on January 9, 2017 and Aziz on August 30, 2017.
The lawsuit said police officers threatened to prosecute Clark, who cried after being arrested for violating a bogus protection order filed by her abusive former husband, if she did not remove her head covering.
According to the lawsuit, Aziz, who was also arrested on a bogus protection order, felt heartbroken when her photo was taken where a dozen male police officers and more than thirty male inmates could see her.
City officials initially defended the practice of forcing people to remove their head coverings for mugshots, saying the policy struck a balance between respect for religious practices and “law enforcement’s legitimate need to take arrest photographs.”
But police changed the policy in 2020 as part of an initial settlement of the lawsuit, saying it would allow arrested people to keep their head coverings on for mugshots, with limited exceptions, such as if the head covering obscures the person’s facial features.
The financial settlement was filed Friday and requires approval by Manhattan federal court Judge Analisa Torres.
City Law Department spokesman Nick Paolucci said in a statement that the settlement resulted in positive reform for the police department and was “in the best interests of all parties.”
O. Andrew F. Wilson, an attorney at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP, which is representing the women along with the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, said: “Forcing someone to remove their religious clothing is like a strip search. This substantial settlement recognizes the profound damage to the dignity of those who wear religious head coverings as a result of forced removal.”
Paolucci said proceeds from the settlement will be shared by approximately 4,100 eligible members of the group.
Wilson said that once the settlement is approved, the money will be distributed equally to anyone who responds within a time period set by the judge, with a guaranteed minimum amount of $7,824 for each eligible person.