A Douglasville, Ga. woman was jailed Tuesday after a judge found her in contempt of court for refusing to remove her hijab, the head covering worn by Muslim women.

Lisa Valentine, also known by her Islamic name, Miedah, 40, was arrested at the Douglasville Municipal Court for violating a court policy of no headgear, said Chris Womack, deputy chief of operations for the Douglasville police.

Judge Keith Rollins ordered her held in jail for 10 days, but she was released Tuesday evening. The reason for the early release wasn’t immediately clear.

“It was very humiliating, degrading,” Valentine said from her home Tuesday evening. “I wear my hijab faithfully and for no reason I was asked to take it off. It was unreal.”

Other Muslim women said the same judge has ordered them to remove their hijabs.

Sabreen Abdul Rahman, 55, said she was asked to take off her scarf when she went to the municipal court last week with her son. “I can’t. I’m Muslim,” she mouthed silently to the bailiff, who then removed her from the courtroom, Rahman said.

“This is a religious right,” she said.

Halimah Abdullah, 43, said she spent 24 hours in jail in November 2007 after Rollins held her in contempt of court for refusing to remove her head covering. Rollins could not be reached for comment.

Many Muslim women cover their heads to comply with Islamic mandates of modesty. The practice has run afoul of policies aimed at maintaining decorum and security in courtrooms and other public places across the country.

Valentine said she was accompanying her 19-year-old nephew to address a citation Tuesday morning when she was stopped at the metal detector and told she would not be allowed to enter the courtroom with a head scarf.

Valentine, an insurance underwriter, told the bailiff that she had been in courtrooms before with a scarf on and that removing it would be a religious violation.

Frustrated, she turned to leave and uttered an expletive. She said the bailiff then told her she could take the matter up in front of the judge. She said she was handcuffed and taken into Rollins’ courtroom.

“They were putting me in there like I was some sort of criminal,” she said.

The judge ordered her to serve 10 days in jail, where she was forced to remove her headscarf.

It was not clear whether Valentine’s language contributed to her arrest.

“I can’t believe someone would do this in America,” said Valentine’s husband, Omar Hall.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group in Washington, denounced Valentine’s arrest as a violation of civil liberties.

Spokesman Ibrahim Hooper called it “troubling.”

“When somebody is denied access to our judicial system based on religiously mandated attire, then what does that say? No Muslim woman can have access to a courtroom in Douglasville, Georgia?” Hooper said.

“A judge does have the right to set decorum in a courtroom, but you can’t use those standards to violate someone’s legal rights.”

Last year, CAIR officials met with city and court officials in Valdosta to discuss religious attire in courtrooms after Aniisa Karim, a 20-year-old Muslim woman, was barred from entering a courtroom to settle a traffic ticket because of her hijab.

Hooper said he contacted the U.S. attorney general’s office regarding the latest incident. He said Eric Treene, special counsel for religious discrimination, said his office would look into it.

In a letter sent today to Attorney General Baker, CAIR National Legal Counsel Nadhira F. Al-Khalili wrote in part:

“We assert that Judge Rollins’ actions violate the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct…It is also our contention that a courtroom is a ‘public facility’ under Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and denial of access to the courtroom based on religious beliefs or practices is therefore discriminatory.

“In addition, we believe Judge Rollins’ actions are in violation of First and Fourteenth Amendment rights to freedom of religion and equal protection under the law. The United States Supreme Court has held that a state may not infringe upon the free exercise of a citizen’s religious observance absent a compelling state interest.We believe that no such compelling interest exists in these cases.

“Judge Rollins’ policy of exclusion would prohibit court entry to all Sikh men wearing turbans, all orthodox Jewish men and women wearing yarmulkes or head scarves, all Christian women wearing religious head coverings, and all Muslim men and women who wear skullcaps or scarves…

“I would therefore respectfully request that you take appropriate action to ensure that the legal, religious and civil rights of Georgians of all faiths be maintained. I would also request a formal investigation into this matter, sanctions where appropriate, and an assurance that all those wearing religious attire be allowed in state courtrooms.”

A copy of the letter was sent to the Judicial District Professionalism Program of the State Bar of Georgia.

CAIR also contacted the U.S. Department of Justice, which now says it is looking into the case.

CAIR, America’s largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

Reprinted from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Wednesday, December 17, 2008.