Muslim woman sues over Waukesha jail hijab policy

A Janesville woman, who was ordered to remove her hijab for a booking photograph by jail officials, is suing Waukesha County for violating her freedom of religion.

Lynn Tanner, a practicing Muslim, filed the civil lawsuit on July 8 against Waukesha County and Waukesha County Sheriff Eric Severson in the Eastern District Federal Court.

The lawsuit states the removal of her hijab, which covers her head, ears and neck, was done according to the county jail’s policy and did not violate Tanner’s constitutional rights. Tanner was asked to remove her head covering in a private setting and only in front of female officers.

The lawsuit states Tanner’s First Amendment rights were violated once her booking photo was stored on the county jail’s service where it could be viewed by male officers and any member of the public.

“The policy’s purported accommodations end the moment the photograph is taken,” reads the lawsuit. “A removal conducted in private, before female officers only, means nothing when the resulting image is stored on the jail server for viewing by all staff, male and female, printed on a wristband read by male officers, and released to any member of the public upon request.”

Hafsa Haider, a spokeswoman from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim-American advocacy group in the country, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that, for Muslim women, wearing a hijab represents modesty.

Being asked to remove your hijab and being seen (by men outside one’s family) without one is a direct violation of a Muslim woman’s core religious value, Haider said.

“It can be a very distressing moment for woman to be compelled to remove a hijab before unrelated men,” Haider said.

Tanner was pulled over for a routine traffic stop on Nov. 17 by a Waukesha County Sherriff’s Department deputy, according to the suit. The traffic stop resulted in an arrest, and she was taken to the county jail for booking, according to the lawsuit.

Prior to the booking process, she was asked to remove her hijab when she was initially pulled over. She complied.

Tanner was then asked to remove her hijab for the booking photo. This time, she objected, telling the jail officer that being photographed without her hijab violated her “seriously held religious beliefs,” according to documents.

The officer informed Tanner that it was the jail’s policy and proceeded to take Tanner’s photo without her hijab, according to the document. The photo showed her uncovered hair and neck. She was permitted to put her hijab on after the photo.

Waukesha County policy requires a person remove their hijab for booking photographs, according to the legal document, and permitted for return after the photo is taken.

Similar cases surrounding anti-Muslim actions in prison systems have popped up in states across the country, Haider said. In 2023, a Muslim woman filed a lawsuit against federal prison officials in Minnesota for removing her hijab, photographing her and forcing her carry an ID with the photo at all times.

According to the lawsuit, Tanner wears her hijab every day. It is a part of her identity. A booking photo is meant to show the “identifiable” look of a person, but by removing the head covering of a woman who wears it almost everyday does not identify a person in her typical day.

The Department of State permits those who wear hats or head coverings for religious reasons to keep those coverings on in official passport photos. Wisconsin law also permits religious head coverings in official identification photographs.