July 12, 2002
Source: The Plain Dealer
On July 12, 2002 The Plain Dealer reported that "more than 50 Muslims and community leaders gathered in front of the Justice Center [in Cleveland, Ohio] to protest the jail's refusal to let an Islamic woman wear a head covering in court... Depriving Aisha Samad of her hijab, an object with social, religious and sexual implications, was akin to demanding that a non-Muslim woman strip to the waist in public, one protester said... Samad's scarf and other belongings were taken as part of standard procedure... Rufus Sims, an attorney for the family, said he will ask county officials to meet with him to establish a new policy."