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ACLU Appeals Lower Court Ruling in Veil Case that Permits Government to Restrict Religious Freedom Without Enhancing Security
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 9, 2004
CONTACT:
Alessandra Soler Meetze, Communications Director, 305-576-2336, ext. 16
ORLANDO — Saying people should not have to sacrifice their religious liberty for the sake of national security, American Civil Liberties Union of Florida attorneys argued today in an appeals court case on behalf of a Muslim homemaker who declined on religious grounds to remove her face veil for a driver's license photo.
“We’re concerned because the government’s tendency in the aftermath of September 11th has been to restrict numerous freedoms merely for the sake of restricting liberty, rather than to make us truly safer,” said Howard Simon, ACLU of Florida Executive Director. “The state’s actions run counter to the most basic principles of religious freedom that give everyone – including members of minority religious communities as well as majority Christian faiths – the right to practice and worship as they choose.”
In a hearing before Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeals, ACLU cooperating attorney Howard Marks questioned the state’s authority to require Sultaana Freeman to reveal her facial features in violation of her legitimate and sincerely-held religious beliefs. A devout Muslim from Winter Park, Freeman wears a face veil called a niqab and does not reveal her face to strangers or men outside her family, as dictated by her Islamic faith.
She had been photographed previously with a niqab for a Florida driver’s license in February 2001 and an Illinois driver’s license. Illinois is one of at least 15 states with exemptions in diver’s license statutes for people who have religious objections to being photographed. Soon after the September 11th attacks, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles sent her a letter instructing her to replace her old photograph with one showing her entire face. Her license was revoked in January 2002 after she declined.
In June 2003, Ninth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Janet C. Thorpe upheld the actions of state officials. Although Thorpe said Freeman herself "most likely poses no threat to national security," she ruled that security concerns outweigh religious freedom and declined to reinstate Freeman’s driving privileges.
The ACLU appealed that decision in July 2003, arguing the state’s requirement that Freeman take an unveiled photograph does little to support governmental interests of maintaining “maximum safety” for individuals who use public highways since there are more than 800,000 temporary licenses and/or driving permits that have been issued in Florida in the past five years without photographs. These licenses have been issued to individuals in a variety of different categories including convicted drunk drivers with revoked licenses, foreign nationals and military personnel.
The appeal also argues that the state of Florida unfairly discriminated against Freeman because many licenses are granted allowing individuals to cover themselves in a similar manner including turbans, beards, sideburns, glasses, hats and heavy makeup – all of which may distort the individual’s overall appearance.
In January 2002, the ACLU of Florida filed a lawsuit on Freeman’s behalf shortly after her license was revoked, citing three separate cases in Colorado, Indiana and Nebraska in which the courts ruled that individuals with certain clearly held religious beliefs have a right to obtain licenses without being photographed. Those cases involved Christians who believe that the Second Commandment prohibits them from having their photographs taken.
The case is Sultaana Lakiana Myke Freeman v. State of Florida (No. 5D03-2296). Freeman is represented by ACLU cooperating attorney Howard Marks of Winter Park, Fla. and Randall Marshall, Legal Director of the ACLU of Florida.
Click here to read the ACLU’s appellate court brief.
Click here to read the ACLU of Florida's initial complaint in this case.
