Excerpt:
The Michigan Supreme Court is considering adopting a guideline that would give judges wide discretion to control the appearance of witnesses testifying in state courts, but civil rights advocates said an exception should be made for religious attire, such as the face veils of Muslim women.
The court proposed the rule following a lawsuit filed in 2006 by a Hamtramck woman against a car rental company. District Judge Paul Paruk dismissed the case when Ginnah Muhammad, a Muslim, declined to remove her face veil in order to present her complaint.
Paruk said he needed to see Muhammad's face to judge her truthfulness, but Muhammad said her faith requires her to keep her face veiled in public.