German Court Rejects Challenge To Ban on Civil Servants Wearing Religious Dress

Both DPA and the AP are reporting on a decision handed down yesterday by a regional court in the German state of Hesse. There are some inconsistencies between the two reports. In 2004, Hesse enacted legislation banning all civil servants from wearing articles of clothing that "could endanger confidence in the neutrality of their carrying out their official duties." Yesterday the court upheld what was apparently a facial challenge to the law, saying that since civil servants represent the state, the state may control what they wear. Attorney Ute Sacksofsky argued that the ban infringes constitutionally protected religious freedom and gender equality. After the court handed down its decision, Sacksofsky said that it did not deal with the question of whether Islamic head coverings came within the statute's prohibitions.