Maria Hardman, Muslim busted for DUI on scooter, can wear headscarf in mug shot

Maria Hardman's Facebook pic.

On Friday, our Shmuck of the Week deciders anointed Maria Hardman, a CU student who refused to remove her headscarf, called a hajib, for a mug shot because of her Muslim faith -- although that didn't stop her from riding a scooter while drunk, which led to her arrest in the first place.

Now, however, Hardman's won a victory of sorts. She doesn't have to take off her hajib for the booking photo -- just pull it back a little.

That's the word from the Boulder Daily Camera, which reports that representatives of the Boulder County Sheriff's Office researched how other departments deal with situations like Hardman's, with Sheriff Joe Pelle subsequently determining that she could wear the hajib in the mug shot "provided she push the scarf back far enough to expose her hairline and ears" -- something Hardman says she was always willing to do.

By the way, Hardman initially told the Camera that she had become intoxicated after being served alcohol without her knowing it -- but she amended this assertion in an open letter to the community published by the Colorado Daily. "I admit that when I discovered I was being served alcohol, I made no attempt to curb my intake," she wrote.

Since her arrest, Hardman appears to be trying to better follow Muslim precepts -- and she'll be able to do so hajib-wise with an assist from Sheriff Pelle.

More from our Shmuck of the Week archive: "Mike Coffman, our Shmuck of the Week, says food stamps cause kids to get fat."