A Muslim woman was arrested in Douglsaville Tuesday after reportedly refusing the order of a judge to remove her head scraf at a security checkpoint.According to authorities, the judge ordered Lisa Valentine, 40, to serve 10 days in jail after she reportedly violated a court policy that prohibits people from wearing any headgear in court.
According to Valentine's husband, the woman was accompanying her nephew to a traffic citation hearing Tuesday when officials stopped her at the metal detector and told her she would not be permitted in the courtroom with the head scarf, known as a hijab.
Valentine, an insurance underwriter, reportedly told the bailiff that she had been in courtrooms before with the scarf on and that removing it would be a religious violation. When she turned to leave and reportedly said an expletive, a bailiff handcuffed her and took her before the judge.
According to Valentine, who had recently moved to Georgia from Connecticut, the incident reminded her of stories she'd heard of the civil rights-era South.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations is urging federal authorities to look into the incident as well as others in Georgia.
