ABA Journal - Law News Now

6th Circuit Court

Woman’s Suit Against Judge Who Asked Her to Remove Veil Gets Tossed

Posted May 13, 2008, 11:53 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

A federal judge in Detroit has dismissed a woman’s lawsuit against a small claims judge who asked her to remove her veil.

The woman, Ginnnah Muhammad, had claimed Judge Paul Paruk of Hamtramck unconstitutionally interfered with her right to practice religion and violated a civil rights law requiring access to courts.

U.S. District Judge John Feikens said he was declining to exercise jurisdiction in the matter. In his opinion (PDF posted by How Appealing), Feikens wrote that Paruk had asked the woman to remove the veil so he could judge her credibility when testifying. Muhammad responded that she is a practicing Muslim and she could not remove her veil in front of a male judge.

• Comments: 0
• E-mail / Share
• Permalink
• Print