Victory For Student's Right to Wear Hijab
by TChris
The First Amendment prevailed in a dispute over an Oklahoma school's attempt to prevent a 12-year-old Muslim student from wearing a head scarf to school. The Muskogee Public School District agreed to change its dress code to make exceptions for religious apparel. (TalkLeft's prior coverage of the dispute is here.)
There hasn't been much cause to praise John Ashcroft's Justice Department, but its civil rights division did the right thing by protecting the free exercise of religion in this case. The dress code was a rather broad attempt to deter gang members from wearing clothing identifying themselves as gang members, but was mindlessly enforced without regard to its purpose. Props to Justice for setting the school district straight.
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