Muslim inmates win appeals court ruling Friday rites, beards allowed

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | December 28, 2002 | Bob Egleko

[Dog Gone]

Muslim prisoners can attend Friday afternoon religious services and wear short beards, under a religious freedom law upheld Friday by a federal appeals court in San Francisco.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a challenge by California prison officials to a 2000 law banning federal funding to any prison that imposes a "substantial burden on (inmates') religious exercise," unless the state can show that a restriction is important for security reasons.

[Dog Gone]

The Ninth Circus Court of Appeals

[EggsAckley]

Susan Christian, lawyer for the Solano inmates

Interesting last name for the lawyer.......considering who she's defending.

[Cicero]

Well, why not? What harm beards? Hang, draw, and quarter them, if that's what they deserve, but don't deprive them of their religion, such as it is.

I'm sure if it had been Christians, the 9th Circuit would have had a lot more trouble coming to a correct decision, but religious freedom is important, state infringement on religion is very dangerous, and it's a step in the right direction.

[Spunky]

Solano state prison for men in Vacaville

Isn't Solano noted as one of the roughest prisons in California?

[Hugin]

I think it's a medium security prison. You may be thinking of Soladad.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

They can hide things in their beards, ie, razorblades or other paraphernalia.

That is the reason as far as I know of the no beards policy in prison.

Also, for health reasons, these beards (if one of them works in the kitchen of the prison, or in the sewing shop).

I hope this goes to the Supremes. They will overturn this. I hate the 9th Circuit Court and hope that the President will do everything in his power to stack it with conservatives.

[Cicero]

You may be right. The article says "short beards," which is what caught my eye, but I see that by "short" they mean up to 6 inches. So, I'll reserve opinion on this.

[river rat]

Question..

If these freaking convicts are so fastidious about religious beliefs and practices.. WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING IN PRISON?

All the more reason to not take any additional Radical Islamaist Prisoners in the war on terror.. They're too damned much trouble...

Semper Fi

[truth_seeker]

Let them pray, grow beards, but most of all, keep them locked up.

These are people with sentences counted in years, not months. You get sentences in years for serious, usually REPEAT crimes.

Keep them locked up, the longer the better.

[Odile]

//...religious freedom is important, state infringement on religion is very dangerous, and it's a step in the right direction.\\

I'm not sure I get your drift, BUT in any case:

Islam is not a RELIGION in the United States and Europe, it is a SUBVERSION.

We cannot tolerate INTOLERANCE in the name of religious freedom.

If we truly believed in religious freedom, the Mormons would still be practicing POLYGAMY. And frankly I find polygamy FAR less offensive than the presence of Muslims in our fundamentally CHRISTIAN nation. Polygamists are not mass murderers and have no wish to impose their mores on the larger society. Islam is another matter altogether.

In my not so humble opinion one cannot be a true AMERICAN and be a Muslim. The Koran and its adherents are diametrically opposed to the tenets of our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution and our present way of life.

We MIGHT be able to "tolerate" the presence of Muslims here in small, highly controlled numbers, but by all that WE find holy, Muslims ought NEVER to gain ANY access to the levers of political power in the United States -- or anywhere ELSE in the West.

From what I have seen post 911 it is apparent that:

They don't want to SHARE.

They don't want mere ACCEPTANCE.

They want to TAKE OVER.

And, many of them mean to KILL us.

Do you really believe it is their legitimate right under our Constitution to plot against us on our own soil and not be challenged or controlled?

[sheik yerbouty]

Ship them to Baghdad.