The right to freely practice our faith, no matter what we believe, is firmly rooted in our country’s history and tradition.
This right is especially important in the isolating environment of pre-trial detention — when the state has taken us away from our loved ones and locked us up behind bars before determining whether we’re guilty or innocent. In these moments, our ability to turn to our faith and to the symbols that make us feel whole is particularly important.
Being forced to remove religious headwear in these vulnerable moments is devastating to our sense of dignity.
The state has no role taking our religious freedom from us in these situations.
The state has no role taking our religious freedom from us in these situations.
Following the mass arrest of pro-Palestinian protesters on the University of Texas at Austin campus in April 2024, we learned that arrested people had been forced to remove their religious headwear while being booked into the Travis County Jail, an experience that was degrading, humiliating, and a violation of their religious rights. We received similar reports from other parts of the state. Through our advocacy, the Travis County Sheriff changed the jail’s policy to provide increased protection for religious rights in the future.
While forced removal of religious headwear is all too common, it is possible to successfully advocate against it and advocate for policy change that conforms with constitutional protections.
Let’s be clear: Sheriffs across Texas have the legal obligation to uphold the religious rights of all people booked into and detained in jail.
Officers must safeguard the religious rights of detained people by guaranteeing their ability to wear religious headwear such as hijabs, yarmulkes, and turbans, as well as garments covering their arms and legs. The forced removal of religious headwear is not only unconstitutional, but it can also trigger emotional distress and unnecessary suffering during an already stressful time.
Upon learning of these violations, we, along with other advocates like CAIR-Austin, submitted a letter to the Travis County Sheriff reminding her of her legal obligation to uphold the religious rights of all people booked into and detained at the Travis County Jail. Through follow-up correspondences, we discovered a policy requiring people to remove religious headwear for a photo during processing. This policy not only violated the First Amendment, but it was also unnecessary, since people would have already been thoroughly searched and photographed at that point with their headwear. The policy had to be changed.
Alongside CAIR-Austin, and criminal defense attorneys, and other advocacy partners, we submitted a follow-up letter requesting that the Travis County Sheriff create new policies to safeguard the rights of individuals to practice their faith.
As a result of our advocacy, Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez implemented an official policy that detained people with religious head coverings “will have their photo taken with the head covering.” The policy makes clear that any searches of religious head coverings “shall be done in private by officers of the same gender only” and that the arrested person will be “allow[ed] to remove the head covering for search on their own.” Additionally, the policy states that “[a]s an accommodation for a religion that prohibits exposure of an inmate’s arms, an article of clothing with long sleeves will be provided at intake.”
Other sheriffs across Texas should follow Sheriff Hernandez’s lead and update their policies to explicitly protect the religious rights of people in their custody.
Jails are too often black boxes of information, since those who are detained often have a limited ability to speak freely about the conditions and rights violations they are experiencing. It’s up to all of us to seek out information about jail policies and advocate for the rights of those who are detained.
Find out whether your sheriff is violating religious rights
If you’re wondering what your sheriff’s policies are regarding access to religious rights and accommodations in county jail, you can submit a request for information to your sheriff’s office under Texas’s Public Information Act. You can email your sheriff’s office with your questions or submit your questions through an online portal if one exists in your county.
Here is some information you might request from your sheriff’s office:
- Any policies governing religious practices;
- Any policies regarding the availability of clothing to cover the body for religious reasons, such as long-sleeve shirts and head coverings;
- Any security plans that implicate religious headwear;
- Any policies regarding photographing detained people without religious head coverings;
- Any information about religious meal accommodations;
- Any information about provision of religious texts to detained people;
- Any information about religious programming for detained people.
Your sheriff’s office should get back to you within 10 business days with the records you requested, an estimate of when the information will be available, or a notification that they plan to request a decision from the Texas Attorney General about whether they must disclose the records to you. For more information about the Texas Public Information Act, use this handbook.
Based on what you learn through the records request process or a conversation with your local sheriff’s office, you can submit advocacy letters to encourage your sheriff’s office to implement policies protecting the religious rights of detained people. Here is the letter and follow-up letter we sent to the Travis County Sheriff for your reference.
Thank you for helping to protect the rights of all people.
