SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — U.S. Justice Department officials on Monday said California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations (CDCR) violated the religious beliefs of correctional officers over its no-beard policy.
Muslim and Sikh correctional officers wear facial hair as an expression of their religious faith, federal officials said, but a CDCR policy enacted last year forbids officers from wearing beards longer than one inch in length.
The Justice Department is seeking a temporary court order to allow correctional officers who express their faith to have beards. Such officers performed their jobs successfully for years while having beards, according to the federal court filing.
Corrections officers wearing beards to express their religion faced termination if they did not cut their facial hair, federal officials said.
