Court Evicts Woman for Wearing Headscarf

A Berlin judge forced a mother to leave her son's trial because she refused to remove her headscarf. The devout Muslim woman, whose 20-year-old son faced assault charges on Thursday, left the Tiergarten district court after the magistrate told her she had to either take off her head covering or leave the room. The juvenile court judge had entirely prohibited head coverings in his court, his spokesman told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper. The judge intended for the ban to have a pedagogical effect, encouraging good comportment, the spokesman said. Judges in Germany are free to determine for themselves what behavior is acceptable in court. Some judges forbid wearing hats or caps, which they consider disrespectful. Headscarf bans currently being contemplated in many of Germany's states only apply to civil servants, such as teachers.