LETTER FROM NEW YORK
Face, profile, and 17.5 million dollars (nearly 16.3 million euros) for mugshots, these mugshots: the city of New York agreed to pay this staggering sum to be shared among thousands of people who had to remove their religious head coverings to be photographed after being arrested by the New York police. The agreement, which must still be approved by a judge, is the result of a collective action launched in 2018 by two Muslim women, Jamilla Clark and Arwa Aziz, who said they were humiliated when police officers made them remove their veils.
The cases of the two plaintiffs were originally separate. In January 2017, Jamilla Clark’s ex-husband complained that she had violated a protection order. The New Jersey resident was arrested and an officer took a photo of her at New York police headquarters. “Like many Muslim women whose religious belief requires them to wear a veil, Ms.me Clark felt exposed and violated without it – like she was naked, the complaint stated. A New York police officer took a photo of Mme Clark as she cried and begged to put her hijab back on. The policeman ignored Mme Clark, stored the photo in an online database and in M’s paper fileme Clark and showed it to many male police officers. »
“Mme Aziz felt broken”
In August 2017, Brooklyn resident Arwa Aziz was arrested after her sister-in-law obtained a protection order against her. During his detention, Mme Aziz had begged the officers to allow her to only push her hijab back slightly to expose her hairline and ears for the arrest photo. “Beside herself, crying and bareheaded in a corridor full of men who were not her immediate family, Mme Aziz felt broken”the complaint said.
Both women were granted relief under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment freedom of speech and religious freedoms. “I am so proud today to have enabled thousands of New Yorkers to obtain justice”rejoiced Mme Clark in a statement, cited by the New York Times.
The financial compensation, a little more than $13 million after deducting administrative costs and attorney’s fees, will be distributed among the approximately 3,600 eligible people. “If you were forced to remove your religious head covering to take a photo while in custody of the New York City Police Department from March 16, 2014 to August 23, 2021, you are entitled to a payment of between $7,824 and 13,125 dollars »write on their site the lawyers of Mmy Clark and Aziz.
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