La Cour suprême et le port de la barbe pour des motifs religieux

Un prisonnier musulman de l'Arkansas s'adresse à la Cour suprême des États-Unis pour déterminer s'il peut laisser pousser sa barbe. À ses yeux il s'agit d'une prescription religieuse. L'état autorise les détenus ayant des problèmes de peau à laisser pousser une barbe d'u quart de pouce. On interdit la pilosité faciale pour des rasions d'hygiène, de sécurité (on y cacherait des choses) et pour éviter les déguisements...

 "Mr. Holt filed a handwritten petition in September asking the justices to hear his case, Holt v. Hobbs, No. 13-6827, pointing out that other courts had struck down policies banning beards in prisons. In an interim order in November, the Supreme Court ordered that Mr. Holt be allowed to grow a half-inch beard.

 In their response to Mr. Holt’s Supreme Court petition, prison officials told the justices that “homemade darts and other weapons” and “cellphone SIM cards” could be concealed in even half-inch beards. They added that they did not welcome the task of monitoring the lengths of inmates’ beards.

 In a reply brief, Mr. Holt, now represented by Douglas Laycock, a law professor at the University of Virginia, said 39 state corrections systems and the federal system allow prisoners to grow beards. He added that the justifications for the policy were illogical as there were easier places to hide contraband — shoes, say — than in a short beard.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/04/us/supreme-court-agrees-to-weigh-arkansas-inmates-right-to-grow-a-beard.html?ref=us