A CU student is heading to court after refusing to remove her hijab for a pre-booking photo.
Maria Hardman, a 19-year-old international affairs major, went to Boulder County Jail on Dec. 1 to fill out paperwork in order to do two days of work crew for a previous DWI charge.
Hardman said issues arose when she was asked to take off her hijab for a photo and refused.
“I went back in there and the prison guard told me, he said, ‘You’re gonna have to take it off,’ and I was like, ‘You know, I’m sorry, but I’m not going to take it off,’” Hardman said. “I tried to explain to him that it’s for religious reasons; I’m not gonna take it off.”
Hardman said she was then put in a holding cell while her attorney tried to sort out the issue and come to a resolution.
“There was no resolution,” she said. “When I left, the prison guards told me they were going to file a motion that would find me in contempt of court… they said, ‘well we never said that to her,’ which is total bullshit. When I left they told me that they were going to file a motion that I was in contempt of court.”
Larry Hank, the division chief at Boulder County Jail, said removal of the hijab was necessary.
“A booking photo in a criminal justice system is consistently a full-facial and side photo with no headgear, no anything on it,” Hank said.
He said they gave her an option to remove the hijab or not.
“We told her we would not force her to do this because it was an alternative-sentencing program,” he said. “But, if she chose not to do it, then we could not book her and she would not be allowed in the program.”
He also said other women have removed their hijabs before.
“We’ve had other Muslim females come into custody who have removed their headgear for the photograph,” he said. “I offered the ability to have all the male officers leave the area and have a female officer do it for her; she still chose not to do it.”
Hardman said the issue will go to court, where she and her lawyer plan to fight how the Boulder County Jail handled the situation. The court date has yet to be determined.
“So my lawyer, he filed a motion with the courts,” Hardman said. “I have also contacted the Colorado chapter of the ACLU, as well as this group called CAIR, which is the Council on American Islamic Relations. Both of those groups are in the process of deciding if they are going to take up my case.”
Hardman said she believes that no matter your situation, your religious rights should stand.
“I don’t think it should matter whether you’re in the legal system or not, or what you’ve been convicted of or not,” she said. “I don’t think that should infringe on your religious rights. This is America; we have a constitution.”
Fellow students said they agree with Hardman.
“I don’t really understand why they were so strict about that [the hijab],” said Stephen Morioka, a 20-year-old junior geology major. “That doesn’t seem right.”
Victoria Biondi, a 20-year-old junior journalism major, said she thought the situation was handled poorly.
“I understand that maybe they wanted her to take it off to get her full face, but at the same time, I think they handled it the wrong way,” Biondi said. “They [Boulder PD] should’ve been a little more considerate and looked a little more into it.”
Contact CU Independent Deadline News Editor Isa Jones at Alexandra.i.jones@colorado.edu.
Maria Hardman (is that really her name), wearing a hijab?
She says, “this is America, we have a Constitution”.
Perhaps she should read it. We have laws. Maria, you are not above the law.
What were you doing with a DUI?
You are not consistant in your arguments or ‘religious lifestyle’.
Kudos to the Boulder police for protecting the city and following the laws.