US Federal appeals court denies Muslim police officer right to wear headscarf

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled that a Muslim female Philadelphia police officer should not be permitted to wear her headscarf while in uniform. The Court determined that the police department's interest in, among other things, impartiality, religious neutrality, and the subordination of personal preference outweighed the police officer's interest in wearing her religious dress on duty. The police officer and numerous amici curiae argued, among other things, that other US cities such as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles regularly granted similar requests from police officers.

US Federal appeals court denies Muslim police officer right to wear headscarf abajournal.com Wed, Apr 8, 2009