Muslims and Sikhs in Alabama applauded a decision February 20 by the state's Department of Public Safety to abandon its policy of preventing persons from wearing head coverings in driver's license photos

Christian Century, March 23, 2004

Muslims and Sikhs in Alabama applauded a decision February 20 by the state's Department of Public Safety to abandon its policy of preventing persons from wearing head coverings in driver's license photos. "We're very delighted," said Rajinder Singh Mehta, a NASA aerospace engineer and Sikh who came to Montgomery to protest the policy.

Mehta said the change brings an amicable solution to the problems raised with the agency's ban on head coverings in license photos, a policy that had been in place since last March. DPS Director Mike Coppage said persons who wear head coverings for religious or medical reasons would be allowed to keep them on for photos, provided they don't cover the face.