KNOXVILLE — A Tennessee county will pay a Muslim woman a settlement of $71,500 after forcing her to remove her hijab for a mugshot and publishing it online, attorneys said.
Layla Soliz was arrested May 15, 2024, along with other pro-Palestinian activists during a protest on campus at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, according to a complaint which McClatchy News reported on in October.
As she was being booked on a misdemeanor charge into the Knox County Detention Facility, officials took two photos of her — one with her hijab and one without — despite her objections to removing the head covering, attorneys said.
An intake officer reassured Soliz the booking photo of her without her hijab would not be shared, but it was later posted on the sheriff’s office’s public website — going against the agency’s policy, according to the complaint.
“This is a meaningful step toward accountability for violating Mrs. Soliz’s religious rights under state and federal law,” attorney Daniel Horwitz, who represents Soliz, said in a March 19 news release shared with McClatchy News.
McClatchy News reached out to Knox County’s attorneys March 20 but did not receive an immediate response.
Removing the hijab
For Soliz, a devout Muslim woman, being forced to remove her hijab in front of male officials was “humiliating” and “degrading” — comparable to making a woman take her shirt off in public, attorneys said in the complaint.
The release of her uncovered booking photo on a public website “scarred her,” attorneys said.
The lawsuit sought to have the sheriff’s office delete the photo of Soliz without her hijab, but it has not done so, attorneys said. Soliz — who was released from custody following her booking — still worries daily that the wrong photo could be shared publicly or viewed in violation of her faith again, according to the suit. Although the settlement solves claims for monetary damages, Soliz’s attorneys said they are still working to resolve the claims asking for Knox County to delete Soliz’s booking photo and update its booking policy, citing other nearby counties that don’t require people to take their religious headwear off for booking photos.
Wearing a hijab in prison
The right to practice religion and wear religious attire is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. However, wearing a hijab continues to be a contention point, with some facilities prohibiting the practice while citing safety concerns.
In January 2024, another Muslim woman, whom Horwitz also represented, was forced to take her hijab off for a mugshot in Rutherford County, Tennessee, McClatchy News previously reported. She was then given a settlement of $100,000 and the photos were destroyed.
Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office updated its booking and jail policies as a result of the case, McClatchy News reported.
By NATALIE DEMAREE/McClatchy News
