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Last week, Lisa Valentine attempted to accompany her nephew to a traffic citation hearing at a courthouse in Douglasville, Georgia when she was arrested at a security checkpoint. She was stopped by courtroom officials and was told she could not enter without first removing her head-scarf or hijab. Valentine, whose Muslim name is Miedah, promptly refused saying that it was in violation of her religious beliefs. She was then handcuffed and taken before Judge Keith Rollins who sentenced her to 10 days in jail for contempt of court. Valentine was released later that evening and said afterward that she felt stripped of her human and civil rights. Immediately following the incident, the Council on American-Islamic Relations sent a letter to Georgia Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker urging that Judge Rollins be sanctioned for his actions. CAIR\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s National Legal Counsel argued that the judge\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actions were \u00e2\u20ac\u0153in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights to freedom of religion and equal protection under the law.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Like Valentine, other Muslim women have reportedly been ordered to remove their headscarves by Judge Rollins. <\/p>\n