I say "bullshit", take it off if you want to go to a school in America. Soon you'll have every kid in school with headscarfs, Pope and priest outfits. Just like the woman who wanted to have her drivers license picture wearing her headscarf. Your religious beliefs do not give you the right to change the way institutions operate. This problem is easily resolved, go to a Muslim school if you don't like it!
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MUSKOGEE, United States (AFP) - A conservative US legal foundation said Wednesday it has filed suit against Oklahoma school officials in a bid to get them to revise a school dress code that they say discriminates against Muslims.
The Rutherford Institute brought the suit on behalf of Nashala Hearn, an 11-year-old Muslim who was twice suspended from an Oklahoma elementary school for wearing her headscarf to class.
After barring the girl on two separate occasions, the Muskogee Public School District finally relented and re-admitted her on October 19 after two advocacy groups intervened on her behalf.
Education officials said at the time that they would review the district's dress code which bars any type of head gear, but the Charlottesville, Virginia-based group said Wednesday it wanted deeds not words.
"Although Nashala has been allowed to return to school until the matter is resolved and continues to wear the hijab, she is subject to sanction under the school dress code at the whim of her principal and other school authorities," the Institute said in a statement.
"School districts that pay lip service to pluralism and diversity but send a message of exclusion to religious adherents whose faith imposes certain dress requirements repudiate those same values in practice," said John Whitehead, the Institute's president.
"The First Amendment exists to protect the devoutly religious, such as Muslims, Orthodox Jews and Christians, from such unconstitutional discrimination."
Attorneys for the Rutherford Institute argued that the school's actions violated Hearn's rights to free speech, free exercise of religion and due process as guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
In the suit filed Tuesday in US district Court for the eastern district of Oklahoma, the attorneys are asking the court to declare Benjamin Franklin Science Academy's dress code policy to be unconstitutionally vague.
The suit also seeks to require school officials to revise the dress code to accommodate the religious dress of their students and expunge Nashala's educational record of the two suspensions.
"It wasn't just about our daughter, it was about everyone in all religions," said Nashala's father, Eyvine Hearn. "A lot of people were angry with the school's policies."
D.D. Hayes, attorney for Muskogee Public Schools, said he was surprised by the Institute's decision to litigate, but would probably defend the suit.
The Rutherford Institute is most well-known for helping Paula Jones bring a sexual harassment lawsuit against former US president Bill Clinton
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MUSKOGEE, United States (AFP) - A conservative US legal foundation said Wednesday it has filed suit against Oklahoma school officials in a bid to get them to revise a school dress code that they say discriminates against Muslims.
The Rutherford Institute brought the suit on behalf of Nashala Hearn, an 11-year-old Muslim who was twice suspended from an Oklahoma elementary school for wearing her headscarf to class.
After barring the girl on two separate occasions, the Muskogee Public School District finally relented and re-admitted her on October 19 after two advocacy groups intervened on her behalf.
Education officials said at the time that they would review the district's dress code which bars any type of head gear, but the Charlottesville, Virginia-based group said Wednesday it wanted deeds not words.
"Although Nashala has been allowed to return to school until the matter is resolved and continues to wear the hijab, she is subject to sanction under the school dress code at the whim of her principal and other school authorities," the Institute said in a statement.
"School districts that pay lip service to pluralism and diversity but send a message of exclusion to religious adherents whose faith imposes certain dress requirements repudiate those same values in practice," said John Whitehead, the Institute's president.
"The First Amendment exists to protect the devoutly religious, such as Muslims, Orthodox Jews and Christians, from such unconstitutional discrimination."
Attorneys for the Rutherford Institute argued that the school's actions violated Hearn's rights to free speech, free exercise of religion and due process as guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
In the suit filed Tuesday in US district Court for the eastern district of Oklahoma, the attorneys are asking the court to declare Benjamin Franklin Science Academy's dress code policy to be unconstitutionally vague.
The suit also seeks to require school officials to revise the dress code to accommodate the religious dress of their students and expunge Nashala's educational record of the two suspensions.
"It wasn't just about our daughter, it was about everyone in all religions," said Nashala's father, Eyvine Hearn. "A lot of people were angry with the school's policies."
D.D. Hayes, attorney for Muskogee Public Schools, said he was surprised by the Institute's decision to litigate, but would probably defend the suit.
The Rutherford Institute is most well-known for helping Paula Jones bring a sexual harassment lawsuit against former US president Bill Clinton
