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Posted on 10/09/2014 8:42:33 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
(CNSNews.com) – The atmosphere in the land’s highest court on Tuesday took on a lighter note during oral arguments over a prisoner’s petition to justices over his right to grow a half-inch beard in observance of his Muslim faith.
An attorney arguing on behalf of the Arkansas maximum security prison where Gregory Holt, or Abdul Maalik Muhammad, is serving a life sentence for slitting his girlfriend’s throat, said beards are forbidden for security reasons.
At issue for the court is whether that rule violates the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act passed by Congress and signed into law in 2000.
“Well, as far as searching a beard is concerned, why can’t the prison just give the inmate a comb – you could develop whatever kind of comb you want – and say ‘Comb your beard,’ and if there’s a SIM card in there or a revolver or anything else you think can be hidden in a half-inch beard – a tiny revolver – it’ll fall out,” Justice Samuel Alito said.
“You know, I suppose that’s a possible alternative,” responded David Curran, deputy attorney general for the city of Little Rock, Ark. “I think the concern there is there’s no perfect way of searching and … and there’s a lot of area there and you’re going to have to monitor to make sure they get all the spots, but….”
“Do you really think that would be difficult, to say ‘Here’s a comb, comb your beard?” Alito said.
Justice Stephen Breyer asked if in any of the 42 U.S. prisons that allow beards there have been any reports of contraband being found in facial hair.
“I think there’s no example, not a single example in any state, that allows beard policies where somebody did hide something in his beard,” Breyer said.
“I think that’s mostly right, your honor,” Curran said.
According to an analysis by the John Marshall Law School, Holt sued in federal court, arguing that the Arkansas prison rule violated the statute protecting inmates’ religious liberty.
Holt based his request on a federal case in California, Mayweathers v. Terhune, which held that California officials had to allow Muslim prisoners to grow half-inch beards.
Holt said his request was a “compromise” between the full beard required by his religion and the one-quarter-inch beard allowed in the Arkansas jail for prisoners for medical reasons.
After lower courts dismissed Holt’s claim, he petitioned the Supreme Court, which granted an injunction allowing Holt to keep his half-inch beard pending the court’s final decision.
A wide range of groups and individuals filed amicus briefs in support of Holt, including the Alliance Defending Freedom, former correctional officers and wardens, Islamic Law Scholars, Prison Fellowship Ministries, World Vision, the National Association of Evangelicals, the Christian Legal Society and the National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs.
A decision in the case is expected before June.
A beard hides the contours of the face. Shaving the beard, then, alters the appearance.
So why wouldn’t a high security facility support altering their prisoners’ appearances...
A real mystery.
The New York Yankees can ban facial hair but our maximum security prisons can’t.
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No it’s not difficult for Alito to say it. Maybe he should spend a day with Muslims who slit a throat and handing then combs while they fake using it or try to slit his throat with it.
What about her rights?
Charlie Crist has a beard ... oh, wait ...
barf, puke, pass the eye bleach. Please don’t post pics like that.
prison isn’t supposed to cater to the demands of inmates.
To be fair, they aren’t supposed to wantonly crush those demands that do not cross security/safety lines, either.
But the disguising of an inmate - allowing them to alter their appearance - is most assuredly a security issue.
Ridiculous. We have idiots in the Supreme court.
this is islam pushing limits. it’s not just one demand either. they win this they’ll be others. prison’s where you don’t get to live a normal life. and the last place we ought to capitulate to jihadi joe’s demands to live like an pious islamist.
and i say this in the context that these people want to destroy our country by using our system to promote theirs whilemdestroying the system that allows them to promote theirs. christians as a reference do not do this, and in fact are under attack on many fronts by our own governments.
further there’s no islamic command that the beard must be 1/2 inch. that’s pulled out of ass. the jihadi joes in jawa country wear them a lot ‘longer.
I am actually arguing that the beard should be outright denied based on security grounds.
The “religious” basis for the suit notwithstanding, there is a reasonable justification for the rule against beards. To me, that should end the lawsuit right there.
American Citizen!!!! Achtung! You have “no standing concerning whether or not your President is constitutionally conforming!!!
Congress! Neither do you!
Jihadi! Yes sir! We will accept your important constitutional question!
you have a good point.
they might try to argue that other inmates are allowed stencil-type facial hair, ie really short, trimmed beards, mustaches, and the like.
of course they aren’t the same as a longer beard in terms of significantly altering appearance to where you may not knowmhocthey are right away.
Cool word. What does it mean?
FMCDH(BITS)
i love tablets. /s
know how they
I was think “know whom they”, but I probably misused “whom”. ;-P
Under federal law, prisons which accept federal funding (that would be all of them, by the way), must accommodate the religious practices of inmates, unless the prison can prove it has a strong reason not to.
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