New York City has agreed to pay $17.5 million in a class action lawsuit led by two Muslim women who say their religious rights were violated when police forced them to remove their hijabs for mugshots after they were arrested.
The preliminary financial settlement, which still needs to be approved by a district court judge, was filed on Friday in Manhattan federal court on Friday and more than 3,600 people are eligible for payouts under the deal.
The two women, Jamilla Clark and Arwa Aziz, initially filed the suit in 2018 after they were arrested for violating orders of protection that they called bogus. They were both arrested the year prior year in Manhattan and Brooklyn, respectively.
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They said they felt shame and trauma after being forced to remove the head coverings which are worn by Muslim women in observance of the Islamic religion. Their lawyers likened removing the hijabs to being strip-searched.
"When they forced me to take off my hijab, I felt as if I were naked," Clark said in a statement provided by her lawyers. "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 total about $13.1 million after legal fees and costs are deducted, and could increase if enough of the more than 3,600 eligible class members submit claims. Each recipient will be paid between $7,824 and $13,125.
Albert Fox Cahn, a lawyer for Clark and Aziz, said the settlement was a milestone for New Yorkers’ privacy and religious rights.
"The NYPD should never have stripped these religious New Yorkers of their head coverings and dignity," Cahn said, according to the New York Times.
He said the accord "sends a powerful message that the NYPD can't violate New Yorkers' First Amendment rights without paying a price."
In response to the lawsuit, New York's police department agreed in 2020 to let men and women wear head coverings during mugshots, so long as their faces could be seen.
"This settlement resulted in a positive reform for the NYPD," said Nicholas Paolucci, a spokesman for the city's law department. "The agreement carefully balances the department's respect for firmly held religious beliefs with the important law enforcement need to take arrest photos."
The suit follows a 2018 case where New York City was made pay out $180,000 to three Muslim women after they were also forced to take off their hijabs for mugshots.
Reuters contributed to this report.
