Decided March 3, 1999 | End date March 3, 1999 | |
 | ||
Full case name Fraternal Order of Police Newark Lodge No. 12; Faruq Abdul-Aziz; Shakoor Mustafa v. City of Newark; Newark Police Department; Joseph J. Santiago, Newark Police Director; Thomas C. O'Reilly, Newark Chief of Police Citation(s) 170 F.3d 359 (3d Cir. 1999) Prior action(s) District Court ruled in plaintiffs' favor Judge(s) sitting Greenberg, Alito, and McKee, Circuit Judges Ruling court United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit | ||
Police v. City of Newark, 170 F.3d 359 (3d Cir. 1999), is a case that was argued before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals on 1998-06-25 and decided on 1999-03-03. The decision was inspected during the Samuel Alito Supreme Court nomination.
In this case, the Police Department of City of Newark had ordered its police officers to be clean-shaven; however, it made an exception for medical conditions. Two Muslim members of the police asserted a religious belief that required them to maintain beards, and filed a lawsuit complaining that their freedom of religion was being violated.
The District Court ruled in their favor, and it was affirmed by the Third Circuit, which found that the city had failed to provide a substantial justification for refusing to make accommodation for religious belief in this policy.