new thread
Hey Bill, Take Note:
The Associated Press reported today that a Federal appeals court in Los Angeles has ordered the release of an American Indian prison inmate whose sentence was extended because he refused to cut his hair. Billy Soza Warsoldier, 55 was serving a 19 month sentence for drunked driving, had challenged th grooming policy at Adelanto Community Correctional Facility by refusing to comply with a rule restricting hair length on male inmates to 3 inches. He is a member of the Cahuilla tribe, whose faith prohibits him from cutting his hair except if someone in his family dies. The ACLU sued the Department of Corrections on the inmates behalf and WON!!!
This needless harassment of longhaired prisoners in California has gone on way too long. It started in the final weeks of the Deukmejian administration as a last-gasp grasping at straws to perpetuate waning power. Gray Davis retained the policy primarily because his biggest campaign contributor was the prison guard's union, and he did not want to do ANYTHING to ruffle their feathers in the least. Schwarzenegger has not had that relationship, and he has in recent weeks sent out rumblings that he was going to look at prison conditions in general. Maybe this court case will push him to rescend the Deukmejian anti-longhair policy altogether.
The stories coming out of Iraq cannot hurt the cause of prisoners either. It has already come out that US forces have cut all the hair (including mane, beards, and even eyebrows) off of some of their Moslem detainees as punishment.
Public revulsion of all of this can't help but improve conditions for prisoners in the long run.
I can't wait until the Guantanamo case comes up for hearing again. The "trust us" line they used successfully last time will this time have the judiciary rolling in the floor laughing.
Bill
That is EXCELLENT news! With luck it will set a precedence for future cases.
If this works right here is a picture of Mr. Warsoldier. Sometims i can get this to work, sometimes I can't.
Cool - I always thought those rules in California were a bit barbaric. Infact I'm surprised something hadn't been done sooner. Hopefully that'll set a precident for the abolition of these stupid rules.
Mind you, I don't know why I'm surprised. In some states they still "Fry" Minors and youngster who are ESU. I really shouldn't let anything in the US justice system suprise me.
