The facts of this case smack of sheer opportunism, and in this case, the judge saw through it. “Dearborn Heights woman told to remove hijab loses court case,” by Paul Egan for the Detroit News, April 29 (thanks to all who sent this in):
Detroit — A federal judge today dismissed a lawsuit against a Wayne County judge accused of telling a woman to remove her Islamic head scarf.
U.S. District Judge Marianne O. Battani ruled there was no evidence Wayne Circuit Judge J. William Callahan knew Raneen Albaghdady’s head covering had religious significance when he asked her to remove it during a name change petition last June.
“Albaghdady never protested removal of her head piece, she never informed defendant that her ‘hat’ was a hijab, and most critically, when asked to remove it, said, ‘OK. It doesn’t matter,'” Battani said in an 11-page opinion dismissing the lawsuit brought by the woman and the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Michigan.
“There simply is no evidence that Callahan would have required the removal of a head covering if he had known of its religious significance.”
Albaghdady of Dearborn Heights said in an affidavit she acquiesced because she was “terrified and scared,” but Battani, who reviewed a videotape of the court proceeding, said “her demeanor in court does not comport with her assessment of her feelings.”…