ST. LOUIS (AP) - A Muslim civil rights group is urging St. Louis County to revise its policy of requiring female Muslim inmates to remove religious headscarves. But the director of the jail cites a potential security risk.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations says a Ballwin, Mo., woman was jailed in January because of an unpaid traffic ticket. She was ordered to remove her Islamic headdress, known as a hijab. The Muslim religion forbids women from exposing their head or neck to men outside the immediate family.
When the woman refused, a female officer removed the hijab in front of male inmates and officers.
Jail director Herb Bernsen did not return messages from The Associated Press but told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that jail policy forbids head wear for security reasons.