USA Today. LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A Muslim woman is suing Louisville Metro Corrections and the city, saying she was made to remove her hijab in front of men for her jail booking photo in violation of her religious rights.
Clara Ruplinger, 24, was arrested in July 2018 along with eight other people after they blocked elevators to the immigration court inside the Heyburn Building. The protest was one in a string calling for the abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement amid outrage over the separation of families at the U.S. southern border.
All nine of the protesters were charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing.
In her lawsuit, filed July 25, Ruplinger alleges that while she was being booked, male officials made her take off her hijab and take a booking photo although “removing her headscarf in the presence of men with no familial relation violated her religious beliefs.”
