(Mercury News) The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office on Monday announced a $90,000 settlement with a Muslim woman who was denied the right to wear her hijab during a jail stay last fall, as well as a new policy to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Asia Aden was booked into a county jail facility in October 2022, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. During the booking process, deputies asked Aden to remove her head covering to conduct a pat search for safety purposes. Aden’s hijab was taken off and returned when she was released from custody a few days later.
“We welcome the settlement as a step towards justice for Ms. Aden,” said Jeffrey Wang, a senior civil rights attorney for the San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which represented Aden.
