Muslim Woman Fights Boulder Jail to Keep Hijab for Mug Shot

A University of Colorado student who started wearing hijab after converting to Islam is fighting the Boulder County Jail's insistence that she remove her headscarf for a booking photo, saying that to do so would violate her religious beliefs.

Maria Hardman, 19, of Boulder, reported to the jail Wednesday to do the paperwork for a two-day work crew sentence that was supposed to be served this weekend. But when a jail detention officer told her to remove her headscarf for her mug shot, she balked.

"It's stated in the Koran in two or three places that believing women should wear the veil, except in the company of close family members," she said.

Hardman said she spent three hours at the jail while her lawyer tried to convince officials to let her take the picture with her scarf. She eventually was allowed to leave the jail without taking a picture at all. She said she was told she would be found in contempt of court for being out of compliance with her sentence.