(03-15) 17:38 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A law guaranteeing religious freedom to prisoners applies to a courthouse holding cell where sheriff's deputies ordered a Muslim woman to remove her headscarf, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
The 11-0 decision by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a lawsuit by Souhair Khatib against Orange County, where officers made her take off her hijab for security reasons while she was held in the cell to await a court hearing.
The law, passed by Congress in 2000, prohibits the government from imposing a "substantial burden" on prisoners' religious practices unless officials can show a compelling need for the restrictions.
The Obama administration joined Khatib in arguing that the law applied to courthouse holding cells.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/16/BAEO1IC5VP.DTL
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