Muslim Prisoners Contest Prohibition on Growing Beards

March 11, 2001

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/03/11

On March 11, 2001, The San Francisco Chronicle reported that "a group of Muslim inmates at Vacaville State Prison has now invoked [the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act] in a class-action suit that asserts their right to grow beards." A basic tenet of their religion is that men must grow beards, but "prisoners are prohibited from growing facial hair...according to California Department of Corrections rules."