Client #1: Akele Jones Akele Jones, a client of yours, has come in to the office to ask you for legal advice about a local racetrack that has just been opened next door to his home. After he told you his side of the story you conducted some preliminary research regarding the racetrack and the racing scene in general. The relevant facts for Jones case are as follows: The racetrack, situated in King s Mountain, North Carolina, hosts drag races, demolition derbies, and motocross races every Saturday and Sunday, with training laps starting at 8AM each day. Jones is frustrated because the vehicles moving along the dirt track cause a large amount of smoke and dirt to fall on his property, which is immediately alongside the track. Because of the early start times during the weekend, Jones is unable to sleep past 8AM, which he views as a particular inconvenience. Jones concerns that his property s value has been lowered by the opening of the racetrack were confirmed recently when he had a real estate agent come to give him an estimate of his property s worth. The agent gave a figure that was a full $30,000 less than the number he had received from a different agent before the track was opened. However, the racetrack is complying with all current local laws. The racetrack is located in rural North Carolina and the racing conducted is extremely popular in the local community. The racetrack also employs roughly 250 people, which is a sizable proportion of the local community. The owners of the racetrack invested around $300,000 in order to open the track and expect to make around $50,000 profit per year through the hosting of racing events. Experts indicate that the racetrack could force all drivers, albeit at high cost, to add mufflers and special tires to their cars which would lessen both the noise and dirt that they emit. Jones already asked the owners of the racetrack if adding the mufflers and tires was possible but they flatly rejected the idea as too expensive and unnecessary. Jones has asked the other landowners whose properties align the racetrack to join him in bringing a suit against the racetrack, but so far nobody has taken him up on the idea.
Client #2: Melinda Sims At our meeting this afternoon, Ms. Sims and I reviewed the information she provided me the morning of June 25 when we met at the Yolo County Jail. She also provided me with some additional facts. Ms. Sims (Client) is a 42-year-old, white female who resides at 596 El Dorado Drive, Woodland, CA. On the evening of June 24, Client went to a concert with three friends. Client drove her 2004 Jeep Wrangler to see a Neil Diamond concert at the Arco Arena, a venue in Sacramento, at approximately 8:00 pm. Client consumed two beers during the concert. After the concert finished, Client and her party went to a nearby bar, The Pelican, where Client had one glass of wine. At approximately 11:00 pm, Client left the bar and drove home via Interstate 5. After taking the Main St. exit off Interstate 5, Client was stopped by a Yolo County police officer and asked for her driver s license and vehicle registration. She complied and then was asked to step out of her car and perform several tasks to determine if she was intoxicated. Client again complied and proceeded to recite the alphabet while standing on one leg. She then, upon request, paced a straight line. When she turned to walk back, the officer drew his gun and shouted Put your hands up! The officer then approached Client and demanded she place her hands behind her head and lie face down on the road. Once Client had done so, the officer patted Client down and removed from her left jacket pocket a pair of barber scissors. After being read her rights, Client was taken into custody at the Yolo County Jail. Client was charged with possession of a concealed dirk or dagger under California Penal Code Section 12020. Client was found not to be legally intoxicated. Her blood alcohol level was.03, well below the legal limit of.08. No charges related to driving under the influence were filed. After her arrest, before counsel was retained, client provided the police with a statement about why she was carrying the barber scissors. Though copies of the police record have not yet arrived at the office, Client asserts that she told the police that she carried the scissors for protection from a belligerent ex-boyfriend. She carried them in her left jacket pocket. The scissors, which Client believes were about 8 inches long from end to end, would have protruded from Client s jacket pocket by at least two inches. Client has been released on her recognizance and is awaiting trial.
Client #3: The Nelais Sajem Nelai is a 13 year old girl who wants to attend the Miami-Dade County Math and Science Magnet Middle School. She is of Pakistani descent, a citizen of the United States and a sincere follower of Islam. As such, she dresses modestly at school and wears the Islamic headscarf or hijab. She has worn the hijab since her later primary school years. Although the Mosque that Sajem and her family attend, the Islamic Center of Miami, does not specifically require that the hijab be worn, Sajem and her parents feel that the hijab is required and state that all women past the age of 11 or 12 associated with [their] mosque wear it. The hijab covers the head, hair and neck but not the face. Rules and customs regarding head covering vary among Islamic communities. The Imam of the Islamic Center of Miami, Muhammad Nur Abdul, says in an affidavit that God states in the Qur an that believing women should... guard their modesty. He says God also states in the Qur an that women should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers and certain other adult men. The Imam also has stated his opinion that the vast majority of Muslim scholars and jurists have determined that the minimum requirements for women s dress [are] clothing [that] cover[s] the entire body, with the exception of the face and the hands. However, he says the customs vary among Muslim communities and that the hijab is not required of women at the Islamic Center of Miami. During the first two days she attended the Magnet School, Sajem wore her normal attire, including the hijab. On the third day, Mr. Menendez, the School Principal, told her that she could not wear the hijab in school because of a school regulation, Regulation l0b, and would have to remove it or go home. Sajem chose to go home for the day. She returned the next day with her parents, who told Mr. Menendez wearing the hijab was required by their religion and asked if he could allow Sajem to wear it while at school. Mr. Menendez refused to make an exception. He said that under the school rules, repeated violation of the Regulation would result in suspension and if not stopped, would be grounds for expulsion. Until she enrolled in the Magnet Middle School in August of 2012, Sajem had been schooled at home partially and also at a private school affiliated with the Islamic Center. She is now being home schooled entirely, because the Islamic Center does not have schooling for girls past the primary years. At home she cannot study laboratory science; the family has to hire a tutor for Algebra II and Mrs. Nelai has left her employment to supervise Sajem s studies. It is not clear if she could attend another public school in Miami, but she is not likely to receive the advanced and intensive math and science instruction that the Magnet School provides at other public schools in the area. Regulation l0b is entitled, Headgear and Head covering. It provides: Students may not wear headgear or head coverings when on school grounds during school hours unless such headgear or head covering is advised for medical reasons and appropriate
documentation from a physician is provided to the school office. The Principal may make exceptions for circumstances in which headgear or head covering is appropriate for approved school activities. January 2002. Before Regulation l0b was adopted, the applicable provision of the school dress code simply said: No hats in school. Movement for change began at a discussion during the Magnet School s Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Meeting in the winter of 2001. After the topic came up in the PTA meeting, Mr. Menendez drafted Regulation l0b, discussing it with the senior staff. When he explained the reasons for the change to the faculty and staff, Principal Menendez referred to the September 11 th attacks, and said the he and the senior staff thought those might increase the likelihood of problems. 1 It went through the required approval processes, and was approved by the staff and faculty, and then by the Superintendent, in January of 2002. According to Mr. Menendez s deposition, one reason for the change was to avoid cultural or religious tension. He said a desire to protect students wearing turbans or Islamic head scarves from harassment was also a reason discussed with the senior staff and at the PTA meeting. The School is located in a heavily Christian, Roman Catholic neighborhood, and the Principal thought the majority of the students and staff was Roman Catholic. In addition, Mr. Menendez and the senior staff wanted to keep people from wearing things like dew rags and stuff. 2 The student body is racially mixed: 45% Hispanic, 25% African-American, and 15% Caucasian-not Spanish speaking. The remainder includes many ethnic groups, including a growing number of Asian students. The Principal said there was no other Muslim girl student at the School apart from Ms. Nelai. There is no systematic, selective enforcement of the Regulation against religious headgear or Muslim headscarves. Mr. Menendez said he enforces it against all headgear, pretty much. He does not allow baseball caps, really not anything. He does approve headgear for school plays, special pep events, dress practices of the marching band, and [s]tuff like that, under one of the Regulation s exceptions. Medical reasons for head covering, the other exception, have been rare; he could only recall one student who wore a cast covering part of his head and neck following an auto accident. He has not had a request to wear an Islamic headscarf before. However, he began working at the school in the fall of 2000, and an affidavit from the parent of a former student, Ms. Lynn, states that in 1991, a Jewish boy was allowed to wear a yarmulke. 1 The September 11 th attacks were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks upon the United States in New York City and the Washington, D.C. areas on September 11, 2001. Nineteen terrorists from the Islamist militant group al- Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets. The hijackers intentionally flew two of those planes into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City; both towers collapsed within two hours. The hijackers also intentionally crashed another plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth hijacked jet crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after its passengers attempted to take control of it. Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks, including all 227 civilians and 19 hijackers aboard the four planes. 2 A dew rag is a bandana, scarf or tightly knit cloth that is tied around the head to fit snugly. It is worn by laborers to stop or catch perspiration, and is also worn by contemporary, urban, young men among whom it may be an indication of gang allegiance.
Other reasons for the Regulation given by Principal Menendez were: 1) to prevent weapons from coming into the school; 2) to identify students easily; and 3) to abide by customary etiquette, which requires men and boys to remove their hats indoors. The School has 270 students. It has had nine instances of weapons (knives) attempts to bring knives into the school, and one instance in which a student brandished a knife in the cafeteria since 2000. Its urban neighborhood has a high crime rate compared to suburban Miami and rural districts in the State. Menendez said there was staff concern that some rags and bandanas can have gang significance. He said the School had no reason to suspect Ms. Nelai of bringing in weapons, and she and her parents say she has no record of public misbehavior or violent behavior. All entrances to the School have metal detectors that could detect most weapons hidden in hats, caps or headscarves. Nevertheless, the Principal said weapons could enter in bags or backpacks that students put over or around the detectors, which could be put in headgear after the student is in school and brought to class that way. He could not recall such an incident. However, he admitted the School does not require that bags and backpacks go though detector and does not search them. The School does not use identification badges. Mr. Menendez admitted identification was not a reason for the regulation that was mentioned either at the initial PTA meeting on the subject or with the staff at later meetings. He agreed that Ms. Nelai s hijab did not cover her face. Mr. Menendez also said that in his opinion, women wearing hats in church or Jewish men wearing a yarmulke indoors were considered to be bad etiquette in the community. The Nelai family has come to the law firm in which you are employed to seek advice. You are assigned the task of analyzing if, under the facts as given above, Sajem and her parents might have grounds for a legal claim under U.S. law that the School violated their rights to religious freedom.