Dreadlocked Inmate Can Sue

A Chicago appeals court allows ex-inmate Omar Grayson to file lawsuit against Harold Schuler, an official at Big Muddy Correctional Center in Illinois, for requiring Grayson to cut his dreadlocks. Grayson claimed the haircut violated his right to practice his religion. Judge Richard Posner wrote on behalf of the three-judge panel that, “No more can the prison permit Rastafarians to wear long hair and without justification forbid a sincere African Hebrew Israelite to do so, even if he is more zealous in his religious observances than his religion requires him to be.” Posner included an image of reggae singer and Rastafarian Bob Marley. Schuler ordered the dreadlocks cut in 2008 on grounds that they posed a security threat, but did not explain why. Grayson, a member of the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem, refused to comply and was sent to the prison’s segregation unit. Under Illinois Department of Corrections’ policy, only Rastafarians are allowed to wear dreadlocks. The appeals court ruled that the prison could not favor one religion over another in its grooming policy. The judge noted that “dreadlocks can attain a formidable length and density, and the matted locks could be used to conceal a shank or other contraband. But those security risks did not justify the discrimination against one faith over another." The Office of the Illinois Attorney General did not respond to requests for comment. Grayson, who handled his own appeal after the court denied his request for a lawyer, could not be reached for comment.