Skip navigation

Search

58 results
Article • November 6, 2018 • from PLN November, 2018
Federal District Court Holds Ohio Prison Cannot Cut Rastafarian Prisoner’s Hair by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On May 14, 2018, Senior U.S. District Court Judge Patricia A. Gaughan ruled the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) could not enforce a grooming policy that required a Rastafarian prisoner to …
Article • April 2, 2018 • from PLN April, 2018
Fifth Circuit: Louisiana Must Allow Prisoner to Wear Dreadlocks by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s judgment dismissing a lawsuit brought by a prisoner who sought an injunction requiring the Louisiana Department of Corrections (DOC) to allow him to wear dreadlocks. …
Article • December 27, 2017
Reversed by Supreme Court, Eighth Circuit Remands Prisoner Grooming Case Back to District Court by Christopher Zoukis by Christopher Zoukis Arkansas state prisoner Larry Jones desired to grow a beard, as his religion required. Arkansas prison officials, citing an Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC) policy disallowing beards, said no. Jones …
Article • December 27, 2017
Eleventh Circuit Defers to Alabama DOC on Short Hair Requirement by Christopher Zoukis by Christopher Zoukis The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled against a class of prisoners who challenged the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) hair-length policy as a violation of the Religious Land Use …
Going to Prison in Texas in 2015 by William T. Habern by William T. Habern, David P. O’Neil, and Debra Bone Introduction For over 30 years our firm has represented offenders and their families in prison and parole administrative and legal issues. The first version of this article was published …
Article • October 3, 2016 • from PLN October, 2016
Eleventh Circuit Upholds Alabama DOC Short Hair Policy Following Remand from Supreme Court by The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) does not overcome the Alabama Department of Corrections’ (ADOC) “short hair policy” for prisoners, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held. The ruling was issued on remand …
Oregon Habeas Cognizable to Challenge Confinement in Florida and Colorado under Interstate Compact by In a pair of rulings, the Oregon Court of Appeals held that prisoners incarcerated in other states under the Interstate Corrections Compact (ICC) may challenge the conditions of their confinement in habeas corpus actions against Oregon …
Fifth Circuit Reverses District Court's Denial of Appointment of Counsel by On March 6, 2009, Fifth Circuit reversed the district court's denial of appointment of counsel and upheld the dismissal of free exercise, equal protection and retaliation claims. Texas prisoner Willie Lee Garner filed a pro se lawsuit pursuant to …
Article • June 3, 2016 • from PLN June, 2016
Fifth Circuit Holds Texas Prisoner Has Right to Grow “Fist-Length” Beard by Pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Holt v. Hobbs, 135 S.Ct. 853 (2015) [PLN, Aug. 2015, p.50], the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) changed its grooming policy on August 1, 2015. The new policy …
Article • June 2, 2015
$750 Awarded to County Prisoner for Use of Force and Racially Discriminatory Grooming Enforcement by $750 Awarded to County Prisoner for Use of Force and Racially Discriminatory Grooming Enforcement On November 29, 2006, the County of Sacramento settled a civil suit for alleged excessive force, and religious discrimination committed by …
Article • September 20, 2014 • from PLN September, 2014
Alabama DOC Short Hair Policy Does Not Violate RLUIPA by David Reutter Alabama DOC Short Hair Policy Does Not Violate RLUIPA by David M. Reutter The Eleventh Circuit held in July 2013 that an Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) policy requiring prisoners to maintain short hair does not violate their …
Article • July 15, 2013 • from PLN July, 2013
Fourth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Case Challenging Virginia DOC Grooming Policy by Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor joined a panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, by designation, in finding that a district court had erred in upholding a Virginia prison grooming policy that prohibited prisoners from …
Article • April 15, 2013 • from PLN April, 2013
Forcible Cutting of Illinois Prisoner’s Dreadlocks Found Unconstitutional by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that an Illinois prison guard violated the First Amendment rights of a prisoner by ordering his dreadlocks to be forcibly shorn. The appellate court further held the guard was not entitled to qualified …
Article • April 15, 2013
Tenth Circuit: Individual Damage Claims Improper Under RLUIPA; Right Against Rastafarian Haircut Not Clearly Established by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's dismissal of a Kansas Rastafarian prisoner's constitutional and statutory challenges to a requirement that he comb out or cut his dreadlocks. Sturgeon Stewart was …
Solitary Confinement Subject of Unprecedented Congressional Hearing by Alex Friedmann by Alex Friedmann1 It’s an awful thing, solitary. It crushes your spirit and weakens your resistance more effectively than any other form of mistreatment. — U.S. Senator John McCain, on his treatment as a P.O.W.2 On June 19, 2012, the …
Virginia Prisoners Held in Segregation Over 10 Years for Violating DOC Grooming Policy by Justin Miller A number of prisoners in Virginia have been held in segregation for more than a decade because they refuse to cut their hair or beards on religious grounds. Since December 1999, the Virginia Department …
Article • July 15, 2011
Fifth Circuit: Texas Muslim Prisoners May Have Right to Wear Beards by On November 21, 2007, the Fifth Circuit court of appeals ruled that Texas state prisoners who are Muslims may have the right to wear a beard. Fredrick Gooden and Garrett Gibb, Texas state prisoners, filed suit under 42 …
9th Circuit: Eleventh Amendment Bars Prisoner’s Claim for Damages under RLUIPA by The Ninth Circuit has held that a prisoner bringing suit under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc-1, may not obtain damages from state officials in their official capacities. California …
Article • February 15, 2011 • from PLN February, 2011
Fourth Circuit Vacates Summary Judgment on RLUIPA Haircut Claim, but Case Dismissed on Remand by The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a district court’s decision granting summary judgment to officers and officials with the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) after they forcibly shaved a prisoner’s head in contravention …
Article • July 15, 2010
Washington DOC Agrees to Pay $1,000 to Prisoner Who Was Forced to Cut His Hair by On May 9, 2007, the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) agreed to pay $1,000 to a prisoner who was forced to cut his hair. Sebastian Lubers had been growing his hair for five years …
Page 1 of 3. | 1 2 3 | Next »