Summary
The Arkansas Department of Corrections has a policy prohibiting inmates from growing facial hair unless they have a skin condition that requires it. Gregory Holt, an inmate and practicing Muslim, filed a lawsuit challenging the policy because it prevented him from practicing his religion.
Holt argued that growing a beard was a dictate of his faith and that the Arkansas Department of Corrections was violating the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) by preventing him from doing so. Even though he offered to limit his beard to just half an inch in length, a federal district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit both ruled against him.
Holt appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Alliance Defending Freedom filed an amicus brief explaining that “RLUIPA should be broadly construed in favor of religious freedom.” In January 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that Arkansas had violated RLUIPA by preventing Holt from practicing his religion.