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Muslim Florida Prisoner Awarded Permanent Injunction to Grow Untrimmed Beard
by David M. Reutter
On August 14, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida awarded a permanent injunction to state prisoner Owen D. Denson, a Muslim known as Abdul Hakeen Jahmal Naseer Shabazz, permitting him to “maintain an untrimmed beard” without being “subject to …
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More from this issue:
- Overcrowded and Understaffed, Oklahoma County Jail Remains “Deplorable”, by David Reutter
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Lawsuit Claims Seattle’s King County Jail Shows Little Improvement in Quarter Century Since “Hammer Agreement”
- No Jail Time for Former Arizona Prisons Director After Armed Standoff With Cops
- Pennsylvania County Found Skimming Prisoner-Designated Funds from ViaPath Kickbacks
- Colorado Sheriff Resigns After Deputies Fatally Shoot Motorist
- With Guard Arrests at Georgia Jail, Sheriff Asks, “What Are We Doing Wrong?”
- U.S. Sentencing Commission Greenlights Retroactive Sentence Reductions
- Redemption Songs: The Forgotten History of American Prison Music, by Maurice Chammah
- Nearly $11 Million Settlement Reached in Suit by BOP Prisoners Held Without Heat, Electricity During New York Winter Storm, by Douglas Ankney
- Massachusetts Becomes the Fifth State to Make Prison Phone Calls Free
- Federal Prisoner in Virginia Convicted on Fresh Kiddie Porn Charges After Drawing His Own
- California Slowed, But Not Barred from “Dumping” Sick, Indigent Parolees on Public Hospitals
- Rikers Island Detainees Given Pricey Weight-Loss Surgery but Little Follow-Up Care
- Illinois Eases Restrictions on Prisoners Released Under Supervision
- Moms Released from Massachusetts Prison Decry Dearth of Help
- Eighth Circuit Issues Primer on Informal Due Process Procedures to Missouri Prisoner, by David Reutter
- DOJ Finds ADA Violations in Arizona Prisons, Demands Improvements
- Sick Georgia Prisoners Forced to Choose Between Treatment and Early Release
- Unsealed Settlement Reveals PrimeCare Medical Paid $337,500 After Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Suicide, by David Reutter
- Eighth Circuit Remands ADA Claims—But Not Constitutional Claims—of Paralyzed Arkansas Jail Detainee, by David Reutter
- “Unethical At Best”: Hawaii Budget Director Charged With Financing New Prison is Former CoreCivic Lobbyist
- Alabama Conducts First Nitrogen Hypoxia Execution
- “More jobs than people”: Prisoners Training to Work on Ohio Infrastructure Projects after Release
- Escape from Oregon State Hospital Results in Changes to Detainee Transports
- HRDC Wins $14 Million Settlement for Exonerated Florida Prisoner
- Four Dead in One Month in San Bernardino County Jails, $3,232,500 in Settlements Paid So Far, by Douglas Ankney, Casey Bastian
- Seventh Circuit Revives Prisoner’s Challenge to Seized $10,000, by David Reutter
- Alabama Prisons Facing Third Class-Action Lawsuit
- Muslim Florida Prisoner Awarded Permanent Injunction to Grow Untrimmed Beard, by David Reutter
- North Carolina Prison Official Pleads Guilty to COVID-19 Program Fraud
- South Carolina Sheriff Ordered to Pay $37,500 in Fees and Costs in Jail FOIA Case, by Matthew Clarke
- Guard and Four Summit Food Service Employees Arrested for Smuggling at Troubled Atlanta Jail
- New York Prisoners with Chronic Pain Win Injunction to Receive Denied Medication, by Matthew Clarke
- Ninth Circuit Shuts Down Settlement Agreement in Long-Running California Prisoners’ Gang Affiliation Suit, by David Reutter
- $470,000 Settlement After Texas Jail Nurses Fabricate Vital Signs for Detainee Who Died, by Douglas Ankney
- New Jersey Supreme Court Revives Parolee’s Challenge to Administratively Imposed Treatment Program, by Matthew Clarke
- BOP Pays $40,000 to Prisoner Sexually Assaulted at Florida Lockup by Guard, Who Must Pay Her $1 Million, by David Reutter
- Serial Killer Murdered by Cellmate at Texas Lockup
- California Felony-Murder Reform Shaves 11,000 Years Off 600 Prisoner Sentences, by Douglas Ankney
- Seventh Circuit Says Lack of Expert Testimony Dooms Illinois Prisoner’s Medical Neglect Claim, by Douglas Ankney
- Texas Fights Fetal Rights After Forcing Prison Guard to Stay At Work Until She Delivered Stillborn Baby
- Suit Filed After Mentally Ill Detainee Starves to Death in Miami Jail, by David Reutter
- Senators Grill BOP Chief—Then Say They’ll Toss Her More Money
- Nevada Prisoner Strikes Out in Access-to-Courts Claim, by David Reutter
- New Jersey Private Prison Ban Voided
- Eighth Circuit Affirms $800,000 Award After Arkansas Jail Detainee’s Fatal Appendix Rupture, by Matthew Clarke
- New Minnesota Justice Center Aims to be More ‘Humane’
- Wellpath Held in Contempt in Suit at California Jail
- Minnesota Prison on Lockdown After Protest Over Dirty Water, Lack of Phone Use and Out-of-Cell Time
- California Prison Fined $1.7 Million for Stormwater Discharges, Environmental Violations
- Seventh Circuit Reinstates Wisconsin Prisoner’s ADA Claim for Untreated Knee Injury, by Matthew Clarke
- Eleventh Circuit Revives Claim Against Florida Jail That Forced Detainee to Scan Legal Mail Into Computer with Memory Chip, by David Reutter
- Louisiana Fugitive Recaptured After 32 Years
- Illinois Failing to Grant Dying Prisoners Medical Releases
- MTC Returns $5.125 Million to Mississippi for “Ghost Workers” at Private Prisons
- Florida Pastor Accused of Running Shoplifting Ring With DUI Diversion Program Participants
- $900,000 Settlement Reached With Ohio Jail in Detainee’s Fatal Seizure, by David Reutter
- Tribal Courts Expand ‘Healing to Wellness’ Rehabilitation Programs
- Four TDCJ Guards Resign, Seven Suspended for Beating Handcuffed Prisoner Into Coma
- Michigan Reaches $1.03 Million Settlement with Exonerated Prisoner
- Oklahoma Parole Board Resignations Threaten Prisoner Clemencies
- After Eight Deaths in Eight Years, Virginia Jail Introduces—Pickleball?
- News in Brief
More from David Reutter:
- Eight Circuit Reverses Denial of Partial Qualified Immunity in Detainee’s Pepper Ball Claim, Remands Excessive Force Claims, Sept. 1, 2026
- Nevada Prisoners, Families Call Out Predatory Tablet Program, Sept. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit: Error in Granting Judgment Prior to Adjudging Spoliation Motion, Sept. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity in Strip Searches Resulting from Anonymous Tips, Sept. 1, 2026
- Tenth Circuit: Colorado Governor Unentitled to Eleventh Amendment Immunity on Claim Related to DOC Religious Policies, Aug. 1, 2026
- Michigan Appeals Court: Witnesses Cannot be Forced to Wear Jail Clothes at Trial, Aug. 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit Affirms Denial of State-Law Qualified Immunity in Scabies Case, Aug. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit Revives Disabled Prisoner’s Claim for Denial of Out-of-Cell Exercise Time, Aug. 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit Announces State-Law Exceptions to Appeal Deadlines Preserve “Pending” Status Under AEDPA, Holding Belated-Appeal Procedures Toll Federal Habeas Limitations Period, April 1, 2026
- Florida Supreme Court Announces Rule 3.170(f)’s Good-Cause Plea-Withdrawal Standard Does Not Apply at Post-Appeal Resentencing, April 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- “Nothing Short of Disgraceful”: New York Prisoner Wins Injunction Ordering Cancer Treatment Delayed Seven Years, Sept. 1, 2026. Cancer, Failure to Treat, Eighth Amendment, Injunctions, Deliberate Indifference.
- HRDC Wins Injunction Against Minnesota DOC Policy Banning Its Publications, Sept. 1, 2026. Injunctions, Publications/Books, Censorship, First Amendment, rights, HRDC Litigation.
- Court Shuts Down Arizona Attempt to Fill Medical Staff Vacancies with Under-Qualified Providers, Sept. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Staffing, Injunctions, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Barring Enforcement of Executive Order to Transfer Trans Women Prisoners to Men’s Prisons, Aug. 1, 2026. Transfers, Injunctions, Discrimination (Transgender), Failure to Protect (Transgender).
- Tenth Circuit: Colorado Governor Unentitled to Eleventh Amendment Immunity on Claim Related to DOC Religious Policies, Aug. 1, 2026. Sovereign Immunity, Religious Practices, Religious Property, First Amendment, rights, Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).
- BOP Ordered to Restart Gender Affirming Care for Trans Prisoners, July 1, 2026. Medical, Conditions of Confinement, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Transgender.
- HRDC Wins Injunction to Halt New Mexico Prison Censorship, July 1, 2026. Injunctions, Publications/Books, Censorship, First Amendment, rights, HRDC Litigation.
- Environmental Groups Say the Fight to Shut Down “Alligator Alcatraz” Isn’t Over, July 1, 2026. Environmental Law, Injunctions, National Environmental Policy Act, Immigration Detention.
- SCOTUS Refuses to Allow Damages Under RLUIPA for Rastafarian Former Prisoner Shaved Bald by Louisiana Prison Officials, July 1, 2026. Religious Discrimination, Religious Practices, Damages - Compensatory, Adequacy of Remedy, Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).
- Colorado Ordered to Stop Tossing Prisoners in Solitary for Refusing to Work, July 1, 2026. Prison Labor, Injunctions, Good Time, Constitution, state, Administrative Detention/Segregation.

