KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) — Knox County and Sheriff Tom Spangler are asking a judge to dismiss a federal lawsuit against them after they deleted booking photos of a Muslim woman without her hijab.
In May 2024, Layla Soliz was arrested on a misdemeanor charge, and KCSO employees demanded that she remove her hijab for a booking photo, the complaint alleged. In March, Knox County settled with Soliz, agreeing to pay her a $71,500 settlement after publishing the photo, but the case continued as the photos of Soliz were not deleted and the county’s booking photo policy was not updated, her attorney said.
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On Monday, the County and Spangler filed a motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit after the county deleted photos and videos of Soliz without her religious head covering on June 13. The county’s motion claims that the photos and videos being deleted make the lawsuit moot, but they admit Soliz’s attorney disagrees with that claim.
The motion also alleges that Soliz did not have standing to challenge the county’s policy for retaining booking photos, and that even if the court said she did, the images no longer exist, there is “no longer a live case or controversy.”…