In 2006, Souhair Khatib went to a jail in Orange County, California to ask for more time to complete her community service. She wound up being jailed for several hours, and deputies made her take off her hijab, though she told them it’s against her religious beliefs to remove her head scarf in public. Her case was dismissed twice when courts found that a holding cell is a some kind of special zone where laws that allow prisoners to wear religious garmets don’t apply. Today the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed her case, and ruled that she can go ahead with her lawsuit against the jail.
The Associated Press reports that in 2006, Khatib and her husband, who emigrated from Lebanon then became U.S. citizens, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor welfare fraud. They were sentenced the three years of probation and given 120 days to complete 30 days of community service. Two days before the deadline, Khatib went to the court to ask for an extension. When he found out that she had only completed 15 hours of community service, he revoked her probation and had her jailed. Later that day she was brought into court without her hijab, and the judge granted her request for an extension.