A Georgia prison inmate has won his seven-year court fight to grow a longer beard for religious reasons.
The ruling by a Macon federal W. Louis Sands say the Georgia Department of Corrections must change its grooming policy to allow beards for inmates claiming a religious exemption.
Lester James Smith, who is serving a life sentence for murder and armed robbery, filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against the state prison system in 2012.
He wrote that he became a practicing Muslim in prison, in 2009.
The current state rules limit inmates' beards to a half-inch. Prison officials have forcibly shaved Smith at least three times, the judge writes.
Judge W. Louis Sands' order notes that Smith wants to follow the Qu'ran's order that he not trim his beard, "and that if he must trim it, to maintain at least a fistful of beard hair."
The judge notes that 37 states and the federal prison system allow inmates to grow beards of any length.
The Georgia Department of Corrections argued that the no-beard policy was needed for health and safety reasons.
But the judge largely rejected those arguments and ruled that the policy violated federal law that guarantees religious freedom for inmates.
"It is simply hard to fathom how 3 inches of hair covering the entire head is permissible, but 3 inches of hair at the bottom of the face is unworkable," Sands wrote.
He said the state should allow inmates who claim an religious exemption to grow beards of up to 3 inches.
The judge said the prison could revoke Smith's exemption based on violation of the grooming policy or on bad behavior.
Smith was convicted in Cobb County in 2008 and sentenced to life in prison.
While the lawsuit was in progress, he was assigned to several state prisons, including those in Hancock and Telfair counties. Prison officials say Smith is being held in maximum security prisons and is likely to remain there.
While in prison, the judge wrote, Smith has committed dozens of crimes, including possession of drugs, weapons and cell phones and assaulting a guard and another inmate.
Sands writes that Smith has been involved in at least two violent prison incidents when he felt one of his "Muslim brothers" was being mistreated.
