DENTON COUNTY, Texas — A woman has filed a civil lawsuit against Denton County and three Denton County correctional officers after she was reportedly forced to remove her hijab while booked into the county's jail.
The suit argues that Denton County, through Denton County Sheriff Tracy Murphree and his office, has policies, practices and customs directly violating the First Amendment and other federal and state laws.
"Pursuant to said policies, practices, and customs, Denton County correctional officers forced [the plaintiff] to remove her religiously mandated hair covering prior to entering the Denton County Jail after arrest and withheld her hijab the entire time she was in custody, despite [the plaintiff's] constant objection that the removal of her hijab directly violated her sincerely held religious beliefs and obligations as a Muslim woman," the suit reads.
This practice, the suit argues, alienates religious communities in Denton County and humiliates those booked into the county's jail, as well as substantially burdening the religious freedoms of individuals.
The suit describes the plaintiff as a devout Muslim woman who has been covering her hair with a hijab, which is a mandatory practice for the religion, for the past 10 years.
The plaintiff was apprehended on March 1, 2024, at a Walmart on suspicion of a Class B misdemeanor, the suit states. After being taken to the jail, a female correctional officer reportedly ordered the plaintiff to remove here hijab and her shoes, which she objected to due to her religion.
The officer reportedly told the plaintiff it didn't matter, the suit states, due to the jail's policy for everyone to remove their headwear. Despite continued pleas against it, the plaintiff soon realized she had no other choice and began crying and hyperventilating, according to the lawsuit.
The suit says the plaintiff then removed her hijab, which the filing says was done under duress and coercion, while sobbing the entire time. Officers reportedly further told her that this was a widely understood policy of DCSO and not an individual or rogue act, per the suit.
"[The plaintiff] was forced to remain without her hijab the entire 12-15 hours of prearraignment detention, in full view of men that are unrelated to her, violating her sincerely held religious beliefs," the suit states.
The suit claims the plaintiff was also forcibly photographed without her hijab, and that the image was also published by DCSO.
"To date, [the plaintiff] continues to feel traumatized, dehumanized, violated, and exposed, as well as psychologically distraught as a result of her forced hijab removal, photograph taken without her hijab, and publication of said photograph," the suit states. "She suffers changes in appetite, anxiety, paranoia, and trauma from the episode."
The suit argues Denton County should have known its policies and practices were not meeting constitutional obligations to protect and preserve the plaintiff's free expression of religion.
The lawsuit also accuses Denton County of violating the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Freedom of Worship under the Texas Constitution and the Texas Religious Freedom and Restoration Act.
The suit seeks to prevent Denton County from requiring the removal of any religious head or hair coverings while arrestees or detainees are in custody, as well as require nondiscriminatory policies and practices to be adopted. It also demands that all photographs of the plaintiff be removed, deleted and permanently destroyed from all of the sheriff's office's databases. She is additionally seeking compensatory relief and compensatory and punitive damages against Denton County.
WFAA has reached out to the Denton County Sheriff's Office for comment on the lawsuit, but has yet to receive a reply.
