RANT & CHAT - No Politics

[j.c.]

.....The prologue to Mr. Loudermilk's piece was inaccurate at the time it was written, but it later proved to be true when a similar event occurred. Najat Tamim-Muhammad, a 41-year-old immigrant from Morocco, had threatened to sue the state of Florida because they would not allow her to pose for a state ID card (not a driver's license) with her face covered, but that issue was resolved through compromise. As The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported:
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The issue involved Najat Tamim-Muhammad, 41, who was denied a Florida identification card in January because she wouldn't remove her habib.
The controversy didn't reach the point of a suit being filed.

As reported by the Miami Herald, she had gone to a license-issuing station in Daytona Beach. But when she was asked to remove the head covering to allow her face to be photographed, she refused. It is customary in some Islamic cultures for women to keep their faces partially covered while in public.

Darlene Wiles, supervisor of the Daytona Beach office of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, said the ID picture must show a full facial figure as required by state law. The habib that Tamim-Muhammad was wearing covered only a part of her forehead and right eyebrow, so when she agreed to adjust it, all parties were satisfied. "As long as we can see their face, the photo will be taken," Wiles said.

"I'm very happy. Now I'm feeling very free," Tamim-Muhammad said, showing off her new ID card. The native Moroccan, who moved to the United States two years ago, said she would like to get a driver's license once she masters English.
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However, four months later, Florida discovered that Sultaana Freeman, a 34-year-old Muslim woman, had previously been allowed to pose for her driver's license photo while wearing a niqab, a type of veil that covered most of her face. After Florida revoked Ms. Freeman's license until she posed for "full-face" photo, she filed a lawsuit contending that her religion forbids her from showing her face to strangers or men outside her family, and therefore her constitutional right to freedom of religion was being violated by the state of Florida. That case is still unresolved.

Last updated: 10 July 2002

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/american.htm