Leaders meet over Muslim incident

Today members of a national Muslim group met with city leaders in Valdosta to address a controversial incident involving a Muslim woman.

The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations says Valdosta violated Aniisa Karim’s civil rights when an officer banned her from entering a court building last month because she was wearing a head scarf. Karim says she was denied entry to due “homeland security”concerns.

Last week Valdosta city officials said the court officer acted properly, but apologized for offending Karim. The CAIR representatives said today’s meeting yielded no resolution but there was a spirit of cooperation.

Valdosta court bars Muslim woman wearing headscarf

Officials in Valdosta who last week refused to admit a Muslim woman to a local court, say there were justified because the woman refused to remove her headscarf. Aniisa Karim says she went to court to contest an outstanding parking ticket. Sheriff's deputies, however, refused to admit Karim to court, citing homeland security concerns and because they say wearing the traditional headscarf would be disrespectful to the judge. A spokesperson for the city of Valdosta said court officers acted properly but did offer apologies if Karim was offended. Since Karim's story was made public, anti-Muslim postings to an Internet blog suggest she go home. Karim however, is African American and says she been wearing her headscarf since she was a child. Valdosta City officials say they'll review their court admittance policy this coming week.