Breakdown: Unanimous Supreme Court back’s prisoner in religious beard case

Tobin Grant

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided in favor a prisoner’s religious liberty. The Court ruled that the state of Arkansas must allow a prisoner to grow a beard if doing so is a requirement of his faith.

Since 2011, Gregory Holt, an adherent of Salafi Islam, has asked for an exemption to an Arkansas prison regulation barring facial hair. The prison argued that the importance of uniform appearances among inmates, hygiene issues, and safety concerns in maintaining its ban on beards.

After being denied in federal district court and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, Holt submitted a handwritten appeal to Justice Samuel Alito, who oversees appeals from that circuit. Alito brought the appeal to the full Supreme Court, who voted to hear the case in May.

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