California’s correctional system is going through criticism over a coverage barring officers from sustaining full beards, a rule that civil rights activists say is discriminatory towards members of the Sikh religion and Black officers.
In a letter despatched to the California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation on Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and the Sikh Coalition claimed the brand new coverage would disproportionately have an effect on non-white officers and drive some guards to decide on between their faith and disciplinary sanctions.
“This coverage has created monumental worry and confusion for Sikh CDCR peace officers whose beforehand held non secular lodging are not legitimate. It now seemingly forces them to both adjust to the shaving requirement beneath excessive duress or threat their employment,” Harsimran Kaur, the Sikh coalition’s senior counsel, stated in an announcement.
Vicky Waters, the assistant secretary of communications for the corrections division, stated the coverage in query was not particularly concentrating on facial hair however quite targeted on the necessity for guards to put on N95 masks inside state prisons to adjust to the division’s continued makes an attempt to scale back publicity to COVID-19. Coronavirus outbreaks have been a persistent downside in jail settings for the reason that peak of the pandemic.
“For nearly three years, we had COVID-19 to deal with, and masking in sure capabilities of our operations is totally essential,” Waters stated in an e-mail. “This isn’t discriminatory, it’s merely based mostly on security and compliance.”
Within the letter, the ACLU claimed the coverage stemmed from a September 2022 corrections division memorandum that eliminated the phrase “full beard” from an inventory of accepted grooming choices. Religious members of the Sikh religion are anticipated to maintain their beards unshorn or keep away from trimming them to show their dedication to their faith.
The ACLU and the Sikh Coalition additionally claimed the coverage was discriminatory towards Black officers, who’re extra probably than others to endure from pseudofolliculitis barbae, a medical situation the place shaving may cause extreme irritation of the pores and skin.
Waters stated the division “continues to interact all workers who require non secular or medical cheap lodging within the interactive course of to incorporate consideration of all viable cheap lodging alternate options.”
The coverage would seem to run counter to established case regulation.
Late final yr, a federal courtroom discovered the U.S. Marine Corps was unsuitable to disclaim three Sikh males entry into fundamental coaching as a result of they refused to shave.
The federal Non secular Land Use and Institutionalized Individuals Act additionally protects the rights of prisoners to watch their chosen religion, together with entry to sure varieties of clothes or diets, until the necessity would compromise safety behind jail partitions, although it’s unclear if these protections lengthen to officers.
A lot of the state’s largest regulation enforcement businesses — together with the Ventura and Los Angeles county sheriff’s departments — have been sued lately for stopping folks of their custody from getting access to non secular headwear or applicable diets.
