Muslim man sues over having to remove cap

August 29, 2012, Associated Press Eric Rassbach, an attorney with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said whether someone has a right to don religious clothing in places like courts could depend on the particular state they reside in and the building they enter. The U.S. Supreme Court held in 1990 that a neutral law that applied to everyone did not violate a plaintiff’s religious liberty. However, since that ruling, Congress and many state legislatures, including the Tennessee General Assembly, have adopted laws that give stronger protections to religious freedoms. Rassbach said disputes over religious headwear and other signs of religious expression, such as the wearing of beards, are not new, but it’s possible that they are becoming more common as the nation becomes more diverse.