Suit On Wearing Kufi In Courthouse Is Not Frivolous

In Al-Qadir v. Wackenhut Corp., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131470 (MD TN, Nov. 15, 2011), a Tennessee federal magistrate judge ruled that a free exercise complaint filed by a plaintiff proceeding in forma pauperis is not frivolous. Under 28 USC 1915(e), the complaint would be dismissed if it was frivolous. At issue are allegations that Juvenile Court officials told plaintiff that he could not wear his kufi inside the court building. The court held: "While it appears that the situation underlying Plaintiff's Complaint has been resolved for the future, Plaintiff still has an arguable claim for nominal damages for the incident that occurred on April 11, 2011."