Posted on 01/29/2002 11:01:29 PM PST by 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.
I doubt that this has much of anything at all to do with " oggling ". For the record, I don't like oggling, and LOATHE rude remarks . Getting back on topic ; the first woman, Mrs. Freeman, is a born citizen, who is using her new found religon, to try to bend the law; to suit her own purpose. Many female follewrs of Islam, do NOT wear that thingy. Some do , and they belong to stricter sects, which FORBID those women to drive, and I am quite certain, do other things, which Mrs. Freeman does do.
Now, dear, try to wiggle out of that. : - )
Her eyes looked pretty heavily made-up, with not only mascara, but eyeliner and eyeshadow. Does the Koran allow eye makeup?
This may have been because of Voodoo practices down in Miami. There used to be articles in the Miami Herald describing Haitians sacrificing chickens, and other animals, at night and leaving them at traffic intersections or in the middle of the road. Since I stopped reading any newspapers a few years ago, I haven't kept up on the lastest and greatest. I have yet to come across this, but I also tend to avoid driving in those areas.
Yeah, driver's license pictures are soooo hot. Women, forget those Glamour Shots; you get your man going by simply showing him a snapshot courtesy of your state's driver's license bureau!
Strange as it sounds I think they did away with this a couple of years ago. From what I understand they only require companies to pass general safety standards, with no specific requirements of detailed meat inspection. Please correct me if I'm wrong about this.
A photo ID is a common means of ID, period -- be it a driver's license or some other state ID card. Driving on public roads is a privilege for those who agree to comply with the laws, not a right.
Getting a driver's liscence is a PRIVILEGE ; it is NOT a " right "! If she doesn't want her picture taken, with her face uncovered, fine ; she doesn't get the liscence ! It's really as easy as that. : - )
But it would suit you perfectly. You should try it, with a little leather -- you'd feel right at home.
Forget leather, go with latex -- looks better and feels better. Or so I've heard.
Or she could use cash. At the grocery store, that is. A woman so conscious of maintaining her religious beliefs should be able to remember to hit the ATM before she checks out.
LOL.
Doesn't surprise me.
Frankly, you seem to be thei only one, who is having PC attacks and looking for religious bias . I, for one, couldn't care less what her religion now is; she's quite likely to change it, yet again. : - )
As to the laws of the land, as well as state laws, if yu don't like them, then either try to get them LEGALLY changed, put up with them, or leave. Bleeding hearted, Messianic complexed, " HOLIER THAN THOU " sorts don't do too well here. Pick your arguements carefully. Ehy is this one so important to you ?
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