Florida prison inmate – a Muslim – can grow beard, federal appeals court rules

A federal appeals court has upheld a decision that said a Florida prison inmate should be allowed to grow a “fist-length” beard because of his Muslim faith. 

A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments by the Florida Department of Corrections that inmate Durell Sims needed to go through a formal rule-making process before filing a lawsuit about the beard length.

Sims filed the lawsuit as he sought an exemption from a Department of Corrections rule that beards can only be a half-inch long.

Sims argued that the department policy violated a federal law known as the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which is designed to require accommodation of religion, according to the ruling.

A federal district judge sided with Sims, but the department argued in the appeal that Sims needed to file a petition to start a rule-making process.

The three-judge appellate panel, however, said Sims had gone through a grievance process before filing the lawsuit.

“In short, Florida’s grievance procedures do not require that a prisoner file a petition to initiate rulemaking,” said the 11-page ruling, written by Judge Britt Grant and joined by Judges Elizabeth Branch and Gerald Tjoflat.

“Florida’s process instead requires just three things: an informal grievance, a formal grievance, and an appeal to the (corrections) secretary. The secretary does not dispute that Sims adequately completed each of those three steps. Sims, then, was free to file this lawsuit.”

The Department of Corrections website indicates Sims is serving a life sentence at South Bay Correctional Facility.