By Ken Camp / The Baptist Standard
This is an abbreviated version of the story. For the full story, click here.
Texas prisons must allow Muslim inmates to wear the four-inch beards and knit skullcaps their religion demands, a federal court ruled.
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled in favor of David Rasheed Ali, who sued the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in 2009, saying his faith required him to wear a “fist-length” beard and a white knit kufi.
Ali, an inmate at the Michael Unit near Palestine, asserted the TDCJ policies violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The law bars the government from imposing a “substantial burden” on prisoners’ religious practices unless officials can show a compelling interest, and it requires the government to use the “least restrictive” means possible.
A district court ruled in Ali’s favor, and the appeals court affirmed that decision.
The appeals court opinion demonstrates the “strong protections for the religious liberty interests of prisoners” the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act provides, said Holly Hollman, general counsel with the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
“While safety and security are obviously important governmental interests, the Supreme Court has made clear that courts should not give undue deference to prison officials. This case follows that guidance,” she said.
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