Sultaana Freeman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sultaana Lakiana Myke Freeman is a female Muslim resident of the state of Florida, United States. She gained media attention when she sued the state of Florida in order to wear a face veil for her driver's license picture.
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[edit] Background
Born in 1964 as Sandra Keller, she was raised in Effingham, Illinois. In 1985, she enrolled at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, and graduated from there in 1989 with a degree in Commercial Music, with an emphasis in piano performance. While attending Millikin, she was well-known around campus for her bizarre behavior, including claiming to have a skin condition necessetating the wearing of a stylish glove on one hand - despite the glove changing hands repeatedly. She also clamed to have Tourette's Syndrome, which would cause her to fall asleep suddenly when fatigued (clearly a misapplication of Narcolepsy).
Freeman converted to Islam in 1997. That year, she was arrested in Decatur on charges she abused one of her foster children. Freeman eventually pleaded guilty and served 18 months of probation. Illinois child welfare agents also removed the children from her house.
Freeman did not wear a veil when she was photographed by police for her mug shot. But later that year, she obtained an Illinois driver's license where she wore her veil.
[edit] Florida Lawsuit
In 2003, Freeman filed a religious discrimination lawsuit against Florida when the state's Department of Highway Safety revoked her license when she refused to be photographed without her veil. The department had previously allowed her to wear it, as seen in her license picture, but reversed its decision following the 9/11 attacks.
Freeman's lawsuit argued that sharia required her to wear a veil "in front of strangers and unrelated males." It also stated that other states allowed photo-free licenses for religious reasons. Judge Janet C. Thorpe denied her lawsuit that year, and a state appeals court later upheld her decision. Freeman has planned to continue her appeals.
