The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, and co-counsel at the Wyche Law Firm have filed a lawsuit against U.S. military officials for their unlawful punishment of a U.S. Air Force Airman and Muslim former incarceree at U.S. Consolidated Naval Base Charleston over his refusal to shave a beard worn for religious reasons.
The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in South Carolina, explains that the Airman is a devout Muslim who, in accordance with his faith, maintains a beard. He has every right to do so. In Holt v. Hobbs (2015), the Supreme Court unanimously reaffirmed that prisons may not forbid inmates from maintaining a beard for religious purposes.
But officials at the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig Charleston, where the Airman was incarcerated, placed him in administrative and disciplinary segregation to punish him for his exercise of his faith. For almost one year, the Airman was isolated from the prison population. He spent many of those months in complete solitary confinement, confined to his cell for 22 hours every day.
There is no excuse for this illegal treatment of a Muslim Airman incarceree. Prison officials knew that the Airman is a Muslim. And they knew that he had a pending request for waiver in support of religious practice which, if granted, would authorize him to maintain a beard. But, despite that knowledge, they continued to subject him to punishment.
In 2022, CAIR called on the U.S. Navy and Department of Defense to immediately cease the unconstitutional, illegal, and shameful treatment of the incarceree.
“The military’s abusive treatment of this American Muslim airman is a clear-cut violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” said CAIR Deputy Litigation Director Gadeir Abbas. “He deserves justice for the months he suffered in solitary confinement, and the law entitles him to it.”
“The defendants’ choice to punish the Muslim Airman instead of accommodating his religious practice is exactly what RFRA forbids,” said CAIR National Litigation Director Lena Masri. “We look forward to vindicating the Airman’s rights in federal court.”
In 2020, CAIR expressed support for the U.S. Air Force’s new guidelines allowing personnel to request a waiver to wear religious apparel, including turbans and hijabs (Islamic head scarves), and to grow beards for religious reasons.
In 2014, CAIR welcomed an updated Pentagon policy on religious accommodation for military personnel.
CAIR offers an educational toolkit, called “A Correctional Institution’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices,” to help correctional officers and administrators gain a better understanding of Islam and Muslims.
SEE: A Correctional Institution’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices
Washington, DC, based CAIR defends the rights of incarcerated American Muslims in cases throughout the country.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Senior Litigation Attorney Gadeir Abbas 720-251-0425, gabbas@cair.com, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-999-8292, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com