The Supreme Court ruled unanimously today that inmate Gregory Holt's half-inch beard could not be proven to be a security risk, making Arkansas one of more than 40 states to allow inmates to maintain beards.
According to AP, Holt, a Muslim also known as Abdul Maalik Muhammad, "claimed that he has a right to grow a beard under a federal law aimed at protecting prisoners' religious rights."
The law that won Holt this right is similar to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act cited by Hobby Lobby over the summer in the craft company's case against being forced to pay for employees' contraceptives.
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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who wrote the dissent in the Hobby Lobby case, provided her opinion on the difference between the contraceptive case and Holt v. Hobbs, 13-6827, saying: "Accommodating petitioner's religious belief in this case would not detrimentally affect others who do not share petitioner's belief."
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