Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal upheld a state law that requires an individual's full face to be shown on his or her driver's license photo. Sultaana Freeman, a Muslim woman who wanted to wear her veil for her license photo, sued, arguing in the main that the state law infringed upon her First Amendment right to free exercise of religion. [Freeman's license photo is pictured at left.]

In siding against Freeman, the court wrote:

We recognized the tension created as a result of choosing between following the dictates of one's religion and the mandates of secular law.... However, as long as the laws are neutral and generally applicable to the citizenry, they must be obeyed.

[Moreover, the law] did not compel Freeman to engage in conduct that her religion forbids -- her religion does not forbid all photographs.

The circuit court below deferred to authorities in "that letting people show only their eyes would undermine efforts to stop terrorists." The Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, later "signed legislation requiring a picture of a driver's full face on a license."

The suit arose after Freeman's license -- in which she was veiled and only her eyes were visible -- was suspended by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.