State Prisoner Allowed To Have A Beard.

Arkansas’s state prison’s grooming policy prohibits the growth of facial hair for security reasons. A prisoner, who is fundamentalist Muslim, asserts the prison’s policy burdens his practice of religion. The United States Supreme Court held that the policy violates 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc [the Religious Land Use and Institutional Persons Act of 2000] which prohibits a state or federal government from taking any action that substantially burdens any exercise of an institutionalized person’s practice of religion unless the government demonstrates that the action constitutes the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling governmental interest. Approving of a 1/2 inch beard, the high court stated: “We conclude in this case that the Department’s policy substantially burdens petitioner’s religious exercise. Although we do not question the importance of the Department’s interests in stopping the flow of contraband and facilitating prisoner identification, we do doubt whether the prohibition against petitioner’s beard furthers its compelling interest about contraband.” (Holt v. Hobbs (U.S. Sup. Ct.; January 20, 2015) ___U.S.___, [135 S.Ct. 853, 190 L.Ed.2d 747].)