NACBA
01-20-2015, 10:28 AM
Samuel Alito wrote for the Court, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor filed concurring opinions.
By Kaveh Waddell
http://cdn-media.nationaljournal.com/?controllerName=image&action=get&id=41425&format=nj2013_10_columns
January 20, 2015 A Muslim prisoner in Arkansas can grow a beard in accordance with his religious beliefs, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
The inmate, Gregory Holt, had been forbidden from growing a half-inch beard by the Arkansas prison administration because prison officials said the beard posed a safety hazard. Holt, also known as Abdul Maalik Muhammad, challenged the decision in court, and appealed to the Supreme Court in 2013.
The Supreme Court's unanimous opinion finds that the Arkansas prison violated a federal law, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, when it prevented Holt from growing a beard. The law states that "[n]o government shall impose a sub*stantial burden on the religious exercise" unless the government can show that the restriction is "the least restrictive means of furthering [a] compelling governmental interest."
http://www.nationaljournal.com/domesticpolicy/supreme-court-rules-unanimously-that-muslim-prison-inmate-should-be-allowed-to-grow-a-beard-20150120
By Kaveh Waddell
http://cdn-media.nationaljournal.com/?controllerName=image&action=get&id=41425&format=nj2013_10_columns
January 20, 2015 A Muslim prisoner in Arkansas can grow a beard in accordance with his religious beliefs, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
The inmate, Gregory Holt, had been forbidden from growing a half-inch beard by the Arkansas prison administration because prison officials said the beard posed a safety hazard. Holt, also known as Abdul Maalik Muhammad, challenged the decision in court, and appealed to the Supreme Court in 2013.
The Supreme Court's unanimous opinion finds that the Arkansas prison violated a federal law, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, when it prevented Holt from growing a beard. The law states that "[n]o government shall impose a sub*stantial burden on the religious exercise" unless the government can show that the restriction is "the least restrictive means of furthering [a] compelling governmental interest."
http://www.nationaljournal.com/domesticpolicy/supreme-court-rules-unanimously-that-muslim-prison-inmate-should-be-allowed-to-grow-a-beard-20150120