New York Metropolis has agreed to pay $17.5 million in a category motion lawsuit led by two Muslim girls who say their religious rights had been violated when police compelled them to take away their hijabs for mugshots after they had been arrested.
The preliminary monetary settlement, which nonetheless must be accepted by a district court docket decide, was filed on Friday in Manhattan federal court docket on Friday and greater than 3,600 persons are eligible for payouts beneath the deal.
The 2 girls, Jamilla Clark and Arwa Aziz, initially filed the go well with in 2018 after they had been arrested for violating orders of safety that they known as bogus. They had been each arrested the yr prior yr in Manhattan and Brooklyn, respectively.
A lady sporting a hijab in New York (Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Photos)
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They mentioned they felt disgrace and trauma after being compelled to take away the top coverings that are worn by Muslim girls in observance of the Islamic faith. Their legal professionals likened eradicating the hijabs to being strip-searched.
“When they forced me to take off my hijab, I felt as if I were naked,” Clark mentioned in an announcement offered by her legal professionals. “I’m not sure if words can capture how exposed and violated I felt.”
“I’m so proud today to have played a part in getting justice for thousands of New Yorkers.”
Payouts will whole about $13.1 million after authorized charges and prices are deducted, and will enhance if sufficient of the greater than 3,600 eligible class members submit claims. Every recipient might be paid between $7,824 and $13,125.
Albert Fox Cahn, a lawyer for Clark and Aziz, mentioned the settlement was a milestone for New Yorkers’ privateness and non secular rights.
“The NYPD should never have stripped these religious New Yorkers of their head coverings and dignity,” Cahn mentioned, in response to the New York Occasions.
He mentioned the accord “sends a robust message that the NYPD cannot violate New Yorkers’ First Modification rights with out paying a worth.”
The New York Metropolis skyline. (Fox Information Picture/Joshua Comins)
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In response to the lawsuit, New York’s police division agreed in 2020 to let women and men put on head coverings throughout mugshots, as long as their faces might be seen.
“This settlement resulted in a positive reform for the NYPD,” mentioned Nicholas Paolucci, a spokesman for town’s regulation division. “The agreement carefully balances the department’s respect for firmly held religious beliefs with the important law enforcement need to take arrest photos.”
The go well with follows a 2018 case the place New York Metropolis was made pay out $180,000 to three Muslim women after they had been additionally compelled to take off their hijabs for mugshots.
Reuters contributed to this report.
