Rialto Muslim Woman's Headscarf Lawsuit Allowed to Move Forward

February 25, 2008

Author: IMRAN GHORI

Source: The Press-Enterprise

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_scarf26.3e7c803.html

A lawsuit accusing San Bernardino County of violating a Rialto Muslim woman's rights by forcing her to remove her headscarf was allowed to proceed by a federal judge Monday.

U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips denied a motion by the county's attorneys seeking to have part of the case dismissed.

"There's clearly enough here to satisfy the requirements for the claimant," Phillips said in a brief hearing at the Riverside court.

In a lawsuit filed in December, Jameelah Medina, 29, claimed that her freedom of religion was violated when she was ordered to remove her headscarf at the county's West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga in December 2005. She is being represented by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California.