Muslim Woman Sues over Drivers License [FL: Show your face on driver license photo; FL Woman: No]

The Orlando Sentinel ^ | Jan. 30, 2002 | P. Gutierrez and A. Rippel

[summer]

Muslim woman sues state over drivers license



By Pedro Ruz Gutierrez and Amy Rippel |
Sentinel Staff Writers
Posted January 30, 2002

WINTER PARK -- A 34-year-old woman is suing the state for suspending her Florida drivers license after she refused to have her photo taken without an Islamic veil.

Sultaana Freeman, a former evangelist preacher who converted to Islam about five years ago and wears the traditional niqab, says her religion doesn't allow her to show her face to strangers.

She filed suit earlier this month asking an Orange County judge to review her case.

"I don't show my face to strangers or unrelated males," Freeman said in an interview Tuesday at the office of her American Civil Liberties Union attorney. Only her emerald-green eyes and mascara showed through her veil.

The niqab is different from a hijab, or partial head covering, which doesn't hide the face and which some Muslim women wear for their drivers license photos.

Freeman, who is on an apparent collision course with the state, is bracing for a possible showdown on the fundamental freedoms of the U.S. Constitution.

"Florida law requires a full facial view of a person on their drivers license photo," said Robert Sanchez, a spokesman for the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. "We have no choice but to enforce it."

Florida law says license applicants shall be issued "a color photographic or digital imaged drivers license bearing a full-face photograph."

ACLU lawyer Howard Marks argues that the law is vague. "I don't think the state statutes mandate a photograph," he said.

Marks said he also will cling to a state law on religious freedom that states the "government shall not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion. "

Barry University Professor Robert Whorf said the state is probably within its right to ask for a full-facial photograph. "It makes common sense if the state of Florida were discriminating against her because of her religion; that would more likely be unconstitutional," he said. "If the state of Florida's rationale for insisting the veil not cover the face is for law-enforcement purposes that apply to everyone, then clearly the state of Florida is not discriminating against anyone for religious reasons."

To husband Abdul-Malik, also known as Mark Freeman, the state's action is an infringement on his and his wife's rights.

"It's a reflection of Sept. 11," said Abdul-Malik, 40, a 1980 Edgewater High School graduate and 1984 Florida State University graduate.

The Freemans said they only want recognition that their interpretation of Islam requires women to cover their faces.

Sultaana Freeman said she never had trouble in Illinois, where she worked as a civil engineer with the state's utilities company. That state, without objection, issued her license with a photo that showed only her eyes.

Her Florida license was issued with her face covered last February, but the state demanded a new photo without her veil in November. State record checks began after Sept. 11.

Altaf Ali, executive director of the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he knows of three other times Muslim women were refused Florida drivers licenses because of their headdresses. "I'm sure there's a lot more that's happening and not getting reported," he said.

Ali is asking the state to clarify its policy on religiously mandated clothes, and he wants the state to train employees about Muslim needs.

Yasmin Khan, 39, of West Palm Beachsaid she tangled with motor-vehicle officials when she was refused a drivers license in mid-December. Khan, a native of Trinidad and a Muslim, said she pulled her headdress back to her hairline -- as far as her religious beliefs would allow -- for the Dec. 17 photo but was told she needed to remove it completely. When she refused, she was denied a drivers license, she said.

"I decided to call anybody and everybody because I needed my license. I have kids, and I need to leave my home," she said.

Two days later, after getting help from local politicians, Khan was photographed with her hijab pulled back for her new drivers license.

In Daytona Beach earlier this month, Najat Tamim-Muhammad, 41, was refused a Florida identification card because she declined to remove her hijab.

Two years ago, Tamim-Muhammad, a native of Morocco, removed her headdress for the ID photo, but her husband said she did it only because she spoke no English and was unsure of her legal rights.

Idris Muhammad, her husband, said they plan to go back to the office to explain to a supervisor why she cannot remove the hijab. They hope to have the photo taken at that time.

"We understand the fear that comes with dealing with people you don't know or understand," he said. "In my opinion, it violates our equal rights under the law. Most people, when you sit down and explain why the women wear the hijab and the seriousness of not having it on, understand."

Amy C. Rippel can be reached at arippel@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5736. Pedro Ruz Gutierrez can be reached at pruz@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5620.

[mvpel]

"Since when is a drivers license a need?" What are you kidding me?

I can never figure out people who sit in their nice air conditioned vehicles which can whisk them to anywhere they please in a matter of minutes and sanctimoniously espouse the virtues of public transportation and bicycles.

[egb18delta]

I kinda agree...Leary? But I would not classify folks as bad.. Just because they might be a XCON...

[mvpel]

How can you guarantee that it's not a fake license even if it IS a full-face photo? Fake IDs are a booming business. Given the tenor of some DMV tests, the license doesn't even suggest that she's even a halfway-decent driver.

Do you seriously think that drivers licenses have anything significant to do with catching terrorists? I submit you're engaging in the same kind of fantasy that the "gun fingerprinting" proponents are.

You miss the point. Police officers managed to do their job for hundreds of years before they duped us into giving up our right to travel freely as the foundation to build an enormous, instantly-accessable database on each and every one of us, right down to our height, weight, and eye color. There's no reason to think that police, despite a frequent lack of imagination, would not be able to return to that state of affairs, and our privacy and freedom would be the better for it.

Cops abuse database, 3 privacy suits say

[egb18delta]

Sound familier... But has nothing to do with the discussion.. So good night.. We on the outside will protect you... Hhahahahaha Just kidding...

[egb18delta]

Wow, Awesome points... The Beat cop knew who was trouble or not...

[PLMerite]

BTW, here's a serious question for you: If she does get to the US Supreme COurt -- and wins -- what happens if she is ever arrested -- and has to give a MUG SHOT? Then WHAT?

I'm sure the viewing slit in that headdress is big enough to let in plenty of pepper spray. It still won't make for a good mug shot, but she'd be happy to take the scarf off then.

[egb18delta]

Help this country out.. Later..

[Xenalyte]

You mean to tell us you were sober at midnight? Freak!

Hey, it was an isolated occurrence! And believe you me, I'm not proud of it.

[He Rides A White Horse]

They can't say "sorry, we don't like your kind, go away," for example.

I understand this point......

As it stands, you have a "right" to drive so long as you do so in compliance with the law

Before you respond, understand that I am not under the assumption that you are arguing for this woman. I'm merely underscoring your point.

It's not a case of DMV refusing to grant a license based on race, color, etc., but a refusal to follow rules that basically everybody recognizes as intrinsic to gaining a driver's license.

[egb18delta]

This isn't about Pepper spray, Nukes or anything... This is about changing US.. The western mindset... ( Live Free or Die)She is just testing our Great Free Nation... Some SOB would have beat her to death for the crap she pulling over here...Yes or No??

[nopardons]

I posted absolutely NOTHING about the use of highway, nor any other road. What's your problem ?

I did say, and it is true, that getting a driver's licence is not a right ; which it isn't.

What you posted, was basicaly just an " agenda piece " and not anything at all to do with the topic. That makes it a vainglorious waste of bandwidth.

This isn't a letter ... it's a CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL FORUM, and as such , requires no salutaion. If you want " peace ", go help fight terrorism somewhere.

[egb18delta]

Place it in a burlap bag and play Polo..

[Eva]

This sounds like another idiot who just tries on different religions until they find one that they think fits.

[Mark17]

I don't think the state will cave on this one. I have been reading various net discussion sites, and so far, out of hundreds of replies I have read, NOT ONE is in favor of this woman -- and, these are liberal posters I am talking about.

Well, hey, maybe there is hope after all. Down with PC.