Close Shave: Muslim Inmate Asks 10th Circuit to Revive Religious Discrimination Lawsuit

May 16, 2021

(CN) — A Muslim man forced to shave his beard during intake by a Colorado corrections officer asked the 10th Circuit on Friday to overturn a lower court’s granting of qualified immunity to revive the case.

During intake in 2016 for a 90-day prison sentence for parole violations, Colorado Department of Corrections Sergeant Thomas Currington ordered Tajuddin Ashaheed to shave his beard. When Ashaheed asked to keep his beard as a follower of the Sunnha practice under the Islam faith, Currington said the prison’s religious exception only applied to full beards and threatened to throw him into solitary confinement if he didn’t shave.

Source: Close Shave: Muslim Inmate Asks 10th Circuit to Revive Religious Discrimination Lawsuit - Courthouse News Service