Shabazz v. Barnauskas
| Decision Date | 11 January 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 79-1-Civ-J-B,79-38-Civ-J-B.,79-1-Civ-J-B |
| Citation | 600 F. Supp. 712 |
| Parties | Abdul Hakim Jamal Nasir SHABAZZ, a/k/a Owen X. Denson, Plaintiff, v. K.C. BARNAUSKAS, D.S. Gladis, C.W. Blivens, D.H. Brierton, Defendants. Abdul Hakim Jamal Nasir SHABAZZ, a/k/a Owen X. Denson, Plaintiff, v. R.G. WILLIAMS, F.I. Cowart, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida |
Abdul Hakim Jamal Nasir Shabazz, pro se.
Jason Vail, Asst. Atty. Gen., Department of Legal Affairs, Tallahassee, Fla., for defendants.
Plaintiff, an inmate of the Florida penal system proceeding pro se, filed a civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on January 2, 1979, against K.C. Barnauskas, D.S. Gladis, C.W. Blivens, and D.H. Brierton. Plaintiff alleges that the defendants violated his eighth amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment by forcing him to shave his facial hairs with razors and by writing numerous disciplinary reports against him for his failure to shave with razors despite his alleged permanent nonshaving permit for his alleged skin disease known as pseudofolliculitis barbae1. Further, he alleges that they violated his first amendment right to freely practice his religion since it is a tenet of his Islamic faith to clip his mustache and let his beard flow. Then, on January 12, 1979, plaintiff filed a civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against R.G. Williams, F.I. Cowart, and W.H. Gillard.2 Plaintiff alleges that the defendants violated his eighth amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment by initiating and processing a disciplinary report against him for his refusal to shave his facial hairs with razors despite his alleged nonshaving medical permit for his alleged skin disease3. Further, plaintiff alleges that they also violated his first amendment right since it is a tenet of his Islamic faith to clip his mustache and let his beard flow.
On January 25, 1979, in Shabazz v. Barnauskas, Case No. 79-1-Civ-J-C (M.D.Fla. January 25, 1979), , 598 F.2d 345 (5th Cir.1979), this Court dismissed plaintiff's first amendment claim on the basis of Brooks v. Wainwright, 428 F.2d 652 (5th Cir.1970), and dismissed plaintiff's eighth amendment claim on the ground that it was merely a supplement to the facts alleged in Shabazz v. Williams, Case No. 79-38-Civ-J-C. The Fifth Circuit held that the district court "should not have dismissed plaintiff's First Amendment claim without a hearing inquiring into plaintiff's alleged sincerely held religious beliefs and into the state's justifications for its regulations." 598 F.2d at 347. In sum, the Fifth Circuit vacated the district court's dismissal, remanded the cause for further proceedings, and directed that it be consolidated with Case No. 79-38-Civ-J-C. Accordingly, on July 31, 1979, this Court ordered that Case No. 79-1-Civ-J-C be reopened and consolidated with Case No. 79-38-Civ-J-C.
Plaintiff's first amendment claims were tried before the Court without a jury on November 13, 14, and 15, 1984. The Court denied the defendants' oral motion for directed verdict with regard to the first amendment claims and took the issue under advisement. Therefore, this opinion will address plaintiff's first amendment claims against defendants K.C. Barnauskas, D.S. Gladis, C.W. Blivens, D.H. Brierton, R.G. Williams, and F.I. Cowart.
Having considered the exhibits and the testimony at trial, having heard the arguments of counsel for defendants and plaintiff proceeding pro se, and having observed the demeanor of the witnesses, the Court makes the following findings of fact:
1. Plaintiff, Abdul Hakim Jamal Nasir Shabazz, is incarcerated at Florida State Prison in Starke, Florida.
2. He is presently clean shaven.
3. Prior to his incarceration, he accepted the principles of the Islamic faith and lived by the tenets of the Islamic faith.
4. He is presently a sincere believer in the Islamic faith.
5. The growing of a beard is not an absolute tenet of the Islamic faith. Believers are told to emulate the Prophet Muhammad who wore a beard and kept it neat and clean. Muhammad preached to others to keep their beards neat and clean. (Testimony of Jack Harris.) Although the practice of growing a beard is discretionary, in fact the acting Imam (Islamic minister) Jack Harris, does not wear a beard, it is a practice that is deeply rooted in the religious tradition of plaintiff's faith.
6. Florida State Prison is a maximum security institution. In fact, it is the most secure institution in the state of Florida. It houses individuals with severe sentences.4 It also houses individuals who have demonstrated an inability to conform to prison life or who are high escape risks. (Testimony of Don S. Gladish.)
7. Because of its interest in maintaining security, Florida State Prison requires all inmates to be clean shaven5 unless they possess a valid nonshaving permit for a medical condition. The clean-shaven policy facilitates the identification of escaped inmates. (Testimony of D.H. Brierton.)
8. The probability of recapturing an escapee lessens significantly as time goes by, thereby making early identification and recapture critical. (Testimony of D.H. Brierton.) An inmate who escapes with a beard can alter his appearance in a very short period of time by merely shaving, thus making it very difficult for law enforcement officials to identify and recapture him.6 However, since it takes a long period of time to grow a beard, an escapee cannot thwart recapture by rapidly lengthening his hair.7
9. The Court specifically finds that the requirement that the plaintiff be clean shaven is due to the state's interest in maintaining security.
Here, plaintiff's first amendment claims raise three issues: (a) whether the practice of wearing a beard is deeply rooted in the religious beliefs of the Islamic faith; (b) whether plaintiff is sincere in his religious beliefs; and (c) whether the state regulation on facial hair can be justified under the constitutional standard. The defendants stipulated to the facts that the practice of growing a beard is deeply rooted in the religious beliefs of the Islamic faith and that the plaintiff's belief in Islam is sincere. Therefore, at issue is whether the prison policy on facial hair can be justified under the constitutional standard of review.
The Court is aware that at least two circuits have adopted a "least restrictive means" standard of review for evaluating religious freedom challenges to prison short hair regulations and have held that such regulations violate the first amendment's guarantee of freedom of religion. In Gallahan v. Hollyfield, 670 F.2d 1345 (4th Cir.1982), the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that a prison haircut regulation was unconstitutional because it restricted an inmate's right to exercise freely his sincere religious beliefs when less drastic alternatives were available. Similarly, in Teterud v. Burns, 522 F.2d 357 (8th Cir.1975), the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the District Court's holding that justification for an absolute prohibition against wearing long hair was either without substance or overly broad. The lower court found that inmates who changed their appearance by growing long hair could be rephotographed for easy identification.
In this circuit, however, the standard of review to apply to religious freedom challenges to prison regulations is less clear. In a recent case challenging a prison regulation restricting the right of inmates to marry, the appellate court enunciated a standard composed of two parts:
First, the prison regulation must further a substantial governmental interest. A regulation will be taken to further such an interest if it is rationally related to it. Second, a regulation's restriction ... must be no greater than necessary to protect the governmental interest involved. Bradbury v. Wainwright, 718 F.2d 1538, 1543 (11th Cir.1983).
It is not clear that this establishes a least restrictive means standard of review for prison regulations in this circuit. Furthermore, this Court is informed of the more recent Eleventh Circuit decision in which the Court of Appeals declined to adopt a "least restrictive means" standard of review for this circuit. Furquan v. Georgia State Board of Offender Rehabilitation, 727 F.2d 1115 (11th Cir.1984). In Furquan, the Court of Appeals reviewed a Georgia prison hair and beard regulation which was justified by Georgia prison officials as rationally related to the legitimate state interest in facilitating identification of escaped inmates. In upholding the regulation, the appellate court ruled that it need not decide "whether the `least restrictive means' test must be employed in this type of first amendment challenge, for under either standard the regulations attacked here are sound."
Similarly, this Court recently reviewed a Florida prison hair regulation that plaintiff claimed was violative of his first amendment right to practice his American Indian religion which required long, braided hair. Griffin v. Dugger, Case No. 79-758-Civ-J-B (M.D.Fla. September 25, 1984). In Griffin, the Magistrate entered a Report and Recommendation and found that Griffin is an American Indian, that it is a religious belief of the American Indians not to cut their hair, that Griffin was and still is sincere in his religious belief and that the prison regulation requiring short hair is reasonably related to legitimate penological objectives such as discipline, health and sanitation, and security and therefore does not unconstitutionally violate plaintiff's first amendment right. Griffin v. Dugger, Case No. 79-758-Civ-J-B (U.S. Magistrate Report and Recommendation, July 14, 1983) (Attached as Appendix 1). Upon plaintiff's objection to the Magistrate's Report and Recommendation, this Court conducted a de novo review of Griffin's claim...
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