Federal Judge Says Prisoners Must Be Allowed 3-Inch Beards for Religious Reasons
A federal judge in Macon wrote that Georgia is among "a small minority of states that restricts beards to one half-inch or less" and makes no allowance for prisoners' religious tenets.
August 13, 2019 at 04:58 PM
5 minute read
A federal judge in Macon ordered the Georgia Department of Corrections to amend its policies to allow inmates to grow beards up to 3 inches long, if their religious beliefs forbid shaving.
Senior Judge W. Louis Sands of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia wrote that the GDOC policy—which was already relaxed to allow half-inch beards to accommodate a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling—was still in violation of federal law governing the religious rights of prisoners.
Following a bench trial in a long-running case brought by a convicted murderer and observant Muslim, Sands ruled said the policy breached the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, also known as RLUIPA.
His order directed GDOC to adopt a policy “allowing inmates qualifying for a religious exemption to grow a beard up to 3 inches in length,” although he said the exemption could be revoked “based on the inmate’s behavior and compliance with the revised grooming policy.”
Sands also said the plaintiff’s lawyers were entitled to yet-to-be determined attorney fees.
DOC argued that allowing longer facial hair posed a safety and hygiene risk for inmates and staff, but Sands discounted those concerns.
Noting that male inmates’ hair can be up to 3 inches long and that there is no length limit for female inmates, Sands said there was no evidence showing that 3-inch beards would present any additional problem as far as hiding contraband or weapons.
Nor, he said, is there any more reason for concern that another inmate might grab a beard, rather than head hair, in an attack.
Further, Sands said, Georgia is “among a small minority of states that restricts beards to a half-inch or less, and does not allow any religious exemptions.
“Thirty-seven states, as well as the District of Columbia and the Federal Bureau of Prisons allow inmates, either by their standard policy or through an exemption, to grow a beard without any length restriction,” wrote Sands. “The BOP allows inmates to grow their head and beard hair to any length.”
As to concerns that beards could cause hygiene problems by hiding skin conditions or tumors, Sands noted that GDOC policies could be amended to require regular trimming and inspection.
“Furthermore, GDOC’s grooming policy already requires inmates to keep their facial hair ‘clean and neat,’” Sands wrote.
“It is simply hard to fathom how 3 inches of hair covering the entire head is permissible, but 3 inches of hair at the bottom of the face is unworkable,” he said.
The case began in 2012 when inmate Lester Smith, serving a life sentence for multiple offenses including murder, eluding police and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, filed a pro se suit against then-GDOC Commissioner Brian Owens.
Smith’s handwritten complaint said he became a practicing Muslim while in prison and challenged the constitutionality of the rule and its legality under the RLUIPA.
Owens moved for summary judgment, which Sands granted.
Smith appealed and, while the appeal was pending, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Holt v. Hobbs, in which an Arkansas inmate challenged a state prison policy banning beards under RLUIPA.
A unanimous court held that the policy violated his religious beliefs and said he must be allowed to grow the half-inch beard he sought as a compromise.
GDOC then revised it policy to allow half-inch beards and sought to have the appeal dismissed, but the Eleventh Circuit declined to do so.
The appeals court appointed two Emory University School of Law professors to handle Smith’s appeal: Mark Goldfeder, a senior lecturer and fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, and Sarah Shalf, whose specialties include appellate and civil rights law.
The appeals court vacated and remanded Sands’ ruling in 2017, instructing him to “analyze Smith’s RLUIPA claim as it relates to the GDOC’s revised grooming policy in a manner consistent with Holt v. Hobbs.”
Smith’s team was joined by Max Thelen of The Summerville Firm last year.
Shalf said she was contacted by staff members in the chambers of Appeals Court Senior Judge Frank Hull, for whom she had clerked—and who was not on the panel hearing the case—to see if Shalf would be interested in taking the appointment.
“I was drawn in by the interesting RLUIPA question in our circuit post-Holt, and Max brought his excellent litigation skills to bear,” said Goldfeder in an email.
During a bench trial in November, GDOC and current Commissioner Gregory Dozier were represented by Senior Assistant Attorney General Tina Piper and AAG Rebecca Dobras.
Sands issued his ruling in favor of Smith on Aug. 7.
Spokespersons for both GDOT and state Attorney General Chris Carr declined to comment on the case.
Asked whether he foresaw an appeal, Goldfeder said it seems unlikely.
“I would be surprised if they do keep fighting,” he said. “They went from being real outliers in their approach to prison beards to somewhere in the middle of the road on this issue.”
The 3-inch length is “still on the more conservative side,” he said.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllGeorgia Appeals Court Cancels Hearing in Election Interference Case Against Trump
3 minute readJustice Department Says Fulton County Jail Conditions Violate Detainee Rights
6 minute readSupreme Court Rejects Push to Move Georgia Case Against Ex-Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows
3 minute read3 GOP States Join Paid Sick Leave Movement, Passing Ballot Measures by Wide Margins
5 minute readTrending Stories
- 1First California Zantac Jury Ends in Mistrial
- 2Democrats Give Up Circuit Court Picks for Trial Judges in Reported Deal with GOP
- 3Trump Taps Former Fla. Attorney General for AG
- 4Newsom Names Two Judges to Appellate Courts in San Francisco, Orange County
- 5Biden Has Few Ways to Protect His Environmental Legacy, Say Lawyers, Advocates
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250