San Francisco, USA - The California prison system acted improperly when it tried to trim the hair of an American Indian inmate who said a haircut violated his religious beliefs, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday.
Billy Soza Warsoldier, who had not cut his hair in 25 years, filed a lawsuit after a minimum-security prison punished him for refusing to comply with a rule that men's hair be no longer than 3 inches (8 cm) long.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, reversing a lower court decision, said the state had failed to show the grooming policy was the least restrictive way to ensure prison safety and security.
"It applies to all male inmates, but to no female inmates regardless of a female inmate's security threat; it does nothing to distinguish between inmates housed at maximum security facilities and those low level offenders in minimum security institutions; and it provides absolutely no accommodation for religious belief," Judge Harry Pregerson wrote for a three-judge panel.
Warsoldier, who was released from prison last year, called the decision an important precedent for American Indians.
"This is a really good win for us because now all Indian men behind me and the ones still here, now have the right to keep our traditions and let hair grow long," the Cahuilla Native American said in an interview. "They don't like the fact that we're going to stand up against them."
Last year, a separate three-judge panel came down on the opposite side of a similar issue, saying the California Department of Corrections' reasons for requiring short hair -- such as making inmates easier to detect if they try to escape -- were justified.