PRO: Ray Hobbs, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction, et al., Respondents
Christine A. Cryer, Counsel of Record
In April 1998, the Arkansas Department of Correction (ADC) instituted a policy that requires all inmates in its prison facilities to be clean-shaven unless they have a medical condition that makes use of a razor impractical. The rules, the ADC asserted, were to prevent inmates from hiding contraband in their beards. In July 2010, Abdul Maalik Muhammad, a practicing Muslim, was admitted to an ADC facility and refused to shave his beard, stating that it was part of his religious expression. Although he later relented, in June 2011, Muhammad sued six ADC officials, alleging that the no-beard policy violated the…
